Vanderbilt loses Cialis Supreme Court bid

On Monday, Jan. 24, a American Court declined to hear an appeal by Vanderbilt University for the U.S. Court of Appeals case Vanderbilt University vs. ICOS Corporation. The case involved adding three Vanderbilt medical center scientists, Dr. Jackie Corbin, Dr. Sharron Francis and Dr. Sekhar Konjeti as inventors on the patent held by ICOS for the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis. The scientists had worked with the company Glaxo on development of the drug before the project was transferred to ICOS.

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“My collaborators here felt that we should also be listed as inventors,” Corbin said. “Our collaboration with [Glaxo] went on for a number of years. We provided them a lot of information, both face-to-face and in writing.”

“The brand name is Cialis, the generic drug is tadalafil,” said Leona Marx, the Associate Counsel at Vanderbilt’s Office of General Counsel. “We believe that [Corbin, Francis and Konjeti] are inventors of tadalafil.”

Vanderbilt lost the case at both the District Court and Appellate Court level before appealing it again to the Supreme Court. Corbin said, “This has gone on a long time, and although we had decisions in the lower courts that were against us, we were close in several respects so we had some hope.”

The scientists from Vanderbilt claim to have played a crucial role in the early development of the drug.

”We discovered the enzyme phosphodiesterase-5 many years ago, and we told [Glaxo] that a pill that inhibited the enzyme could be used to treat erectile dysfunction,” Corbin said. “We, actually, ourselves, in our laboratory here, synthesized a lot of compounds like that, and we even sent them some compounds to test.”

However, representatives for the corporation alleged in court that the contributions of the Vanderbilt scientists were not a part of the final design for Cialis. According to Corbin, “[Glaxo] said that even though we told them all these things they should do, told them what kind of compounds to use, that they didn't actually listen to that, but they had their own ideas.”

Marx was realistic about the prospects of the Supreme Court considering an appeal on the case: “It’s very difficult to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear any particular case, it has to have national significance, so I guess we knew it was a long shot.”

When asked how he felt about the Supreme Court denying the case, Corbin said, “My reaction was of disappointment, because we felt we were on the side of truth in this case, that we did contribute to the development and discovery of Cialis.”

Those representing Vanderbilt have no further plans to try to get the names of the scientists on the patent. “This is the end,” Marx said. “There is no further appeal. Once the Supreme Court denies the petition that’s the end of the road.”