Roche appeals preliminary anemia drug injunction

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG filed on Wednesday to appeal a preliminary court injunction barring U.S. sales of its anemia drug Mircera.

Rival Amgen Inc, which last year won a patent infringement case filed against Roche, has been asking the U.S. District Court judge overseeing the litigation to permanently bar sales of the Roche drug.

But Judge William Young has instead been mulling whether to require Amgen to license its patents on top-selling anemia drugs Epogen and Aranesp to Roche in return for a licensing fee.

"Our preliminary opinion is that this is a 'positive' decision for Amgen, as we believe the Appeals court will be less likely to allow Roche to launch under a license agreement," Bear Stearns analyst Mark Schoenebaum said in a research note on Wednesday.

Roche said in a statement that it maintains its position that all of Amgen's anemia drug patents asserted against Roche are invalid and not infringed.

Amgen said it believes a permanent injunction is the appropriate remedy in the case.

"We look forward to arguing the case for protection of intellectual property against a proven infringer in the appellate court," the biotechnology company said in a statement.

Amgen shares rose 10 cents to close at $41.59 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley, editing by Richard Chang/Andre Grenon)