BUSINESS BRIEFING / BIOTECHNOLOGY

Amgen Inc. lost an appeals court bid to obtain a patent related to “Natural Killer” cells in bone marrow in a ruling that could make it harder for biotechnology companies to obtain protection on DNA sequencing.

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen was appealing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s rejection of an application for the sequencing of a protein involved in fighting tumors and viruses. The appeals court upheld the agency’s decision.

Researchers at Amgen had discovered the sequence for a protein called the Natural Killer Cell Activation Inducing Ligand, thought to originate in the bone marrow. The cells play “a major role in fighting tumors and viruses,” according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit court decision.

The patent office was correct to say a typical scientist in the field “would have recognized the value of isolating” the Natural Killer DNA and “would have been motivated to apply conventional methodologies” to do so, the panel ruled.