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The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware set aside a jury verdict issued last year that found Philadelphia-based CorCell Inc. and three other umbilical cord blood banks had infringed on blood collection and storage patents held by a Delaware County company.
Last year, PharmaStem Therapeutics Inc. of Wayne won a $7.1 million verdict against CorCell and ViaCell Inc. of Boston; Cryo-Cell International Inc. of Clearwater, Fla.; and CBR Systems Inc. of San Bruno, Calif., after a jury found the defendants had violated PharmaStem's patents.
The defendants appealed on the grounds the patents are invalid and PharmaStem failed to show infringement.
Transplants of umbilical cord blood stem cells have been used in more than 3,500 procedures worldwide to treat diseases including lymphoma, leukemia, childhood tumors and anemias. Such cells, harvested from a baby's umbilical cord blood, are an ideal match for that child and have the potential for use in treating siblings or parents.
In a recent ruling, U.S. District Court judge...