Eli Lilly Ordered to Pay German Drug Company $20 Million for Infringing Sales of Cialis

Written by Stephanie M. Johnson and Paul Stewart

Edited by John Sganga, Joseph Cianfrani, and Boris Zelkind

On July 18, 2017, after two years of litigation and a jury trial, a Texas federal court ordered Eli Lilly & Co. (“Eli Lilly”) to pay Erfindergemeinschaft UroPep GbR (“UroPep”) $20,000,000 in damages and over $930,000 in pre-judgment interest for patent infringement.  The case arose from Eli Lilly’s marketing of its famous drug, Cialis.  Though originally marketed as a drug to treat sexual dysfunction, Eli Lilly also marketed the drug as a treatment for prostate disease.  Sales of Cialis for the treatment of prostate disease were significant, totaling over $704 million.  On July 1, 2015, UroPep sued Eli Lilly, alleging that by marketing Cialis to treat prostate disease, Eli Lilly was inducing the infringement of UroPep’s patent on a method for treating prostate disease.  The jury found that UroPep’s patent was valid and infringed, and awarded UroPep $20 million as a reasonable royalty for the use of UroPep’s patented invention.  After trial, the judge awarded UroPep an additional royalty for Eli Lilly’s continued use of its invention for the three month period between the end of trial and the expiration date of UroPep’s patent.