Renowned specialty biopharma giant Shire Plc, has been granted legal rights by the Hamburg court to injunct Swiss drug maker and arch rival Roche, regarding emicizumab, also called ACE910, the reputed hemophilia treatment drug. Headquartered in Dublin, Shire has watched its shares plummet over the course of last year as Roche surged ahead in the battle over emicizumab. Shire has fought back, making alleged claims against Roche, with regards to the effectiveness and safety factor of emicizumab. In fact, as per an official statement released by the massive pharmaceutical market player, the company has sought this injunction to avoid any further propagation of incorrect depiction regarding the adverse events that took place in the HAVEN 1 emicizumab Phase 3 trial.

Reliable sources cite that Shire accused Roche of misleading patients and making false statements regarding the hazardous effects of emicizumab recorded in its clinical trials. In defense, Roche has specified that the company is committed to taking decisions in favor of patients. Disregarding the claims made against it by Shire, Roche has stood firm regarding the clinical trial protocol of emicizumab.

Certain reports state that Shire has taken this stand as an interim measure to circulate accurate and sufficient information regarding the phase 3 clinical trials of emicizumab conducted by Roche. In all likelihood, this action undertaken by Shire is likely to generate awareness among patients and physicians regarding the efficacy of the drug.

Shire’s claims against Roche may have stemmed from analysts’ findings regarding adverse events in Roche’s studies, including thrombotic microangiopathy - which essentially signifies blood vessel damage in vital organs. A report from an unclaimed source had even stated that a patient had lost his life due to rectal hemorrhage, after being treated with emicizumab. Roche rubbished the reports and took an unyielding stand with regards to the effectiveness of emicizumab. This has been proved by the company’s statement recorded last month, wherein it has been claiming that emicizumab has cut down the bleed rate by 87% in patients who resist standard therapies as opposed to those who were treated with other drugs.

The reputed Swiss drug maker has been looking forward to amassing a chunk of the 11-billion-dollar hemophilia drug market with massive sales of emicizumab. To compete with the traditional treatments offered by Novo Nordisk and Shire, it has been reported that Roche will also involve itself in developing new drugs with a successful clinical trial rate.