A US jury has ruled decisively for the pharmaceutical firm Amgen in a crucial patent lawsuit, finding that a competing anaemia drug made by Swiss drugmaker Roche infringed several patents belonging to the California-based biotechnology company. After the 23 October ruling, Amgen said that it would seek an injunction to prevent Roche from marketing its drug, Mircera, in the United States. Amgen has held a near-monopoly on the US anaemia market with its drugs Epogen and Aranesp, which together brought in sales of US$6.6 billion last year. Roche said that it would consider an appeal if, as expected, the court confirms the jury's finding.