WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNALS
MARCH 28, 2016 | VOL. 52, No. 13
25 | SPECIAL REPORT YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
westfaironline.com
Jury finds Regeneron infringed on rival's drug patents BY JOHN GOLDEN jgolden@westfairinc.com
A FROM BAIT TO PLATE
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Students in the Culinary Institute of America’s seafood identification and fabrication class prepare fish just delivered from Boston. Photo by Bob Rozycki
federal jury this month cast doubt on the future of the latest drug product marketed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its French collaborator, Sanofi, when it found they infringed on patents held by another U.S. biotech company when developing an injectable antibody to lower bad-cholesterol levels in adults. Regeneron’s alirocumab, whose trade name is Praluent, was approved last July by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use by adults with either an inherited
form of high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol — commonly called bad cholesterol — or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Used as an adjunct to diet and standard cholesterol-reducing drugs called statins, Praluent was the first of a new class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors to be approved by the FDA, based on the results of ongoing clinical trials on humans in the U.S. and Europe by Regeneron and Sanofi. PCSK9 is a protein that reduces the liver’s ability to remove bad cholesterol from the blood. Praluent last September was approved in European Union countries for use by adult patients with specific medical conditions to » REGENERON, page 8
Sides drawn on plan to mandate paid family, medical leave BY REECE ALVAREZ ralvarez@westfairinc.com
SPURRED BY TESTIMONY FROM DOZENS OF PEOPLE — including a fellow legislator — helped by paid medical leave, 12 Connecticut lawmakers are co-sponsoring a bill that
would mandate employers to pay workers who go on medical or family leave. But state business groups are opposed to such a bill saying it would place an undue burden on small businesses. Senate Bill 221 recently passed
the Labor and Public Employees Committee by a 9-4 vote and has now been referred to the General Assembly offices of Legislative Research and Fiscal Analysis. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-New Haven) was among the more than 100 individuals who submitted testimony in support or in opposition to the committee and shared her personal experience with paid medical leave, stating that she was very lucky to have it during her fight with ovarian cancer in 1986. “Paid leave helped me get through that difficult time in my life,” she said in a statement. “But
many families are not nearly as fortunate. Too many working families today are in jobs that do not pay them enough to live on, do not provide paid leave and leave too many families one crisis away from disaster.” DeLauro’s testimony was supported by dozens of others citing moral and financial justifications for the bill as well as the “shameful” status of the U.S. as one of only two countries in the world without paid maternity leave. Under the bill, Connecticut’s program would offer up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical
leave during a 12-month period and would provide 100 percent wage replacement up to $1,000 per week. Coverage would extend to employers of two or more workers and, in order to qualify for benefits, an employee must earn at least $9,300 over 12 consecutive months. The bill is a departure from current laws under the federal and state Family and Medical Leave Acts (FMLAs). Currently, the federal FMLA allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12-month period, while » MEDICAL LEAVE, page 8