Drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N convinced a federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday to overturn a $176.5 million jury verdict for Teva Pharmaceutical TEVA.TA that found Lilly's migraine drug Emgality infringed three patents related to Teva's rival drug Ajovy.

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US District Judge Allison Burroughs said in a post-trial ruling that the Teva patents covering the use of antibodies to inhibit headache-causing peptides were invalid.

"The Court does not reach this decision nor overturn a jury verdict lightly," Burroughs said. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

Video: Teva workers facing layoffs stage mass sit-in (File footage)

Eli Lilly earned more than $650 million from Emgality sales worldwide last year, while Teva earned $377 million from Ajovy, according to company reports.

Teva sued Lilly over the patents in 2018. On the same day that Teva sued, the court dismissed two related Teva lawsuits seeking to block Emgality from coming on to the US market.

A jury awarded Teva $176.5 million in damages in November and rejected Lilly's argument that the patents were invalid.

Burroughs reversed the jury's validity decision on Tuesday. She concluded that the patents were overly broad and did not enable scientists to recreate the antibodies without "undue experimentation."

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The sixth annual MEDinISRAEL conference on digital healthcare and medical devices will be held virtually Monday and Tuesday.

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The conference, an initiative of the Israel Export Institute and the Economy and Industry Ministry with the support of the Health Ministry, the Innovation Authority, and the Foreign Ministry, is set to focus on innovations in the digital healthcare field.

Thirty companies will compete for the title of the most innovative firm in a competition hosted by the Sanara Ventures fund during the event.

Among those set to take part in the conference are representatives from Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the Merage Foundation Israel, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

There are around 1,800 companies in Israel's life science industry, around 40% of which are in the medical device field. Around a quarter of the firms are in the digital healthcare field, another 25% are in the biotechnological field, and the remaining 10% are pharmaceutical companies.

Israeli companies in the field raised some $2.5 billion in 230 deals in 2020, a 50% increase over 2019. At 55%, a majority of the funds raised were for companies in the field of medical equipment, according to data from the IVC Research Center.

In 2020, Israeli exports in the field of medicine totaled $7.7 billion, according to findings published by the Israel Export Institute.

Israel Export Institute Chairman Adiv Baruch said, "Over two inspiring days, we will examine up close notable achievements and potential breakthroughs, and we will research the most innovative health technologies coming out of Israel.

"We will continue to build the most professional infrastructure, which promotes global economic activity and leverages Israeli industry in international markets," he said.

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The world's largest generic drugmaker has been looking to expand its specialty portfolio and said it is seeking more than 400 new laboratories within Israeli academia.

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A partnership with Tel Aviv University will focus on research and development in cancer and brain studies, while a collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science will try to identify antibodies for cancer treatment, Israel-based Teva said.

"Teva is planning to carry out much more cutting-edge collaboration with researchers from leading universities and medical centers in Israel in the fields of oncology, immunology and brain studies – areas in which Israel has unique research capabilities," said Steffen Nock, head of Teva's innovative research team.

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House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, along with Senator Bernie Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, sent the letters to Mylan NV (MYL.O), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) and privately held Heritage Pharmaceuticals, the lawmakers said in a statement.

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Mylan's shares fell 7.7% to $18.20 and Teva's US-listed shares slid 8% to $6.48 in late-morning trade.

Mylan denied obstructing the inquiry and said it was prepared to make its case in a court of law, while Teva said it continues to fully cooperate with the investigations.

"Mylan has provided extensive documentation to investigating authorities and will continue to cooperate," a company spokeswoman said.

The lawmakers first launched the probe in 2014. Earlier this year, 44 US states filed a complaint in federal court alleging drug price-fixing by the three pharmaceutical companies and other drugmakers, according to the statement.

"With assistance from outside counsel, we thoroughly investigated allegations made against our company and employees in the civil complaint filed by various state attorneys general, including the most recent allegation relating to obstruction," Mylan spokeswoman said.

Now Cummings and Sanders said they were "opening an investigation into the companies' apparent coordinated obstruction of the investigation as revealed by," the states' lawsuit.

"Not only did your company's apparent obstruction undermine our investigation, but it may have caused further harm to patients and health care providers by delaying the discovery of evidence about the companies' price-fixing," Cummings and Sanders wrote.

Sanders, who is among those seeking the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election, has made health care and drug prices a cornerstone of his campaign.

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Israeli-owned Teva Pharmaceuticals and Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter both announced the settlement on Sunday in separate statements. Teva, its related affiliates, Johnson & Johnson and several of its subsidiaries were set to go to trial Tuesday in Norman, Oklahoma.

Hunter said the case against Johnson & Johnson will proceed on schedule.

He also said that the funds from the settlement with Teva will be used to fight the opioid crisis in Oklahoma.

Teva did not admit any wrongdoing under the settlement.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma settled with OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma for $270 million.

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Cinacalcet is a calcium-sensing receptor agonist indicated for secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) in adult patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. It is also used for the treatment of hypercalcemia in adult patients with parathyroid carcinoma and severe hypercalcemia in adult patients with primary HPT who are unable to undergo a parathyroidectomy.

The Israel-based drugmaker has also agreed to stop selling its generic product until its license date expires in mid-2021, or earlier under certain circumstances.

Teva will pay Amgen an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement. That amount and other terms of the settlement remain confidential.

Teva said it recently received approval for the generic product and launched it in the United States.

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