By Chris Wack

Forward Pharma A/S shares were down 15% to $6.74 after the company said the European Patent Office's technical appeal board dismissed its appeal of a previous decision to revoke its EP2801355 patent.

The company said the board of appeal made its decision after considering Forward's appeal against the decision of the Opposition Division and third-party submissions from several opponents.

Forward Pharma said the board will issue detailed reasons for the decision in written form in due course, and following receipt and review of these, Forward will announce future plans for the company. Such plans may involve a petition for review at the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO in an effort to overturn the unfavorable outcome, but the likelihood of a petition for review being successful is low. The denial of a petition for review would end the opposition proceeding in favor of the opponents.

The company said that for all practical purposes, such denial or the absence of a petition for review would represent an unsuccessful outcome of the opposition proceeding, resulting in no royalties being due to the company from Biogen based on Biogen's future net sales outside the U.S., as defined in the settlement and license agreement by and among Forward, subsidiaries of Biogen Inc. and certain other parties.

Volume for the stock was 401,000 shares at 12:35 p.m. ET, compared to its 65-day average volume of 392,000 shares. The stock hit its 52-week high of $20.31 on July 21.

Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-07-21 1254ET