In May 2006, Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., won a $65.2 million verdict from Eli Lilly & Company after a jury decided Lilly infringed on a patent licensed to Ariad by Harvard, MIT and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. In addition to the $65 million in back royalties, Lilly will have to pay $17.8 million per year in royalties until the patent expires in 2019.

Ariad’s patent license covers the process of influencing nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), which scientists from the academic institutions discovered in the 1980’s. The case drew national interest because it raised questions over the patentability of natural phenomenon.

Harvey J. Berger, the chairman and C.E.O. of Ariad, gave a simple response.

“The jury looked at the evidence, looked at this issue and concluded unanimously that the patent was valid and infringed,” he said in the New York Times.

After the verdict, Lilly said it planned to appeal.

Ariad is a biotechnology pharmaceutical company that employs a little more than 100 people. Lilly employs 42,000 and sold nearly $15.7 billion in pharmaceuticals in 2006, according to its Web site.