In an article dated 18 July 2025, HiT News reported on a hearing in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Regeneron and Bayer against Sam Chun Dang (SCD) and Optus Pharmaceutical in the Seoul Central District Court. The lawsuit was filed by Regeneron/Bayer in January 2024 alleging that SCD’s licence agreement with an unnamed overseas company to supply its Eylea® (aflibercept, 2mg) biosimilar (SCD411) constituted infringement of Regeneron’s Korean Patent No. 659477. Regeneron/Bayer are seeking damages based on the alleged infringement.
According to the article, at the hearing on 17 July 2025, the Court refused Regeneron/Bayer’s request for an order that SCD submit various documents and information, including the details of the licence agreement and other internal documents relating to that agreement. SCD had objected to producing the documents on the basis that they were confidential and all contracts it entered in relation to biosimilar aflibercept were to take effect after expiry of the Korean patent.
The Court has reportedly narrowed the issues in dispute in the lawsuit to whether SCD’s entry into licence agreements before the expiry of the Korean patent constitutes patent infringement. A further hearing has been scheduled for 11 September 2025.
In March 2024, it was reported that Sam Chun Dang had entered an exclusive distribution agreement with an unnamed distributor to supply its aflibercept biosimilar in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Greece, Ireland and Finland. SCD’s biosimilar was also the subject of an exclusive distribution agreement reported in November 2023 with an unnamed distributor, for supply to Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. SCD reportedly licensed SCD411 to Apotex for the Canadian market in August 2023.