The microbiome patent litigation between Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. resulted in an August 2024 District Court jury finding in that individual claims of three patents relating to fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and treatment of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection owned or licensed by Finch were valid and infringed by Ferring. At trial, the jury awarded Finch over $25M in damages. As this is among the first microbiome patent litigation involving an FDA-approved live biotherapeutic product (LBP), parties in the microbiome therapeutics arena have been closely following the case and waiting to see whether Ferring would appeal the verdict.
Post-trial ruling moves case toward final judgment and appeal
We just got much closer to finding out – the case had been in the so-called post-trial motions stage since shortly after the verdict, and an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit could not be filed until the judge in the District Court case issued a final judgment. On June 10, 2026, US District Judge Jennifer L. Hall issued a ruling on a number of post-trial motions, including a motion by Ferring for Judgment as a Matter of Law, essentially a request to set aside the jury decision because, in Ferring’s view, no reasonable jury could have found in favor of Finch based on the evidence. Ferring specifically challenged infringement and validity of the subject claims of the patents (US 10,251,914, US 10,675,309, and US 11,541,080), as well as whether the infringement was willful, and challenged the jury’s damages amount. The June 10 ruling denied all of Ferring’s motions, finding that the jury’s verdict was supported by substantial evidence on all counts.
Final judgment timeline and appeal clock
Judge Hall made her ruling final on July 2, 2026, starting the 60-day clock for filing of an appeal to the Federal Circuit, so we expect to know if the judgment is appealed by the end of the summer.
We and a number of players in the microbiome arena will be closely following to see if Ferring files such an appeal. While all patents are different, there are similarities in issues and approaches for microbiome IP more generally, and such appeal, if it occurs, would provide the best look to date at how the U.S. courts view the strengths and weaknesses of patents granted for LBPs