Halozyme is not holding back against Merck & Co. in the companies' injectable Keytruda patent dispute, having now escalated a verbal warning into a lawsuit.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in a New Jersey federal court, Halozyme alleges that a proposed subcutaneous formulation of Merck’s popular cancer drug Keytruda infringes 15 of its patents.

Those intellectual properties belong to a Halozyme patent family called Mdase, which covers a large group of modified human hyaluronidases. A hyaluronidase protein may allow for under-the-skin administration of otherwise intravenously infused drugs.

Halozyme is not holding back against Merck & Co. in the companies' injectable Keytruda patent dispute, having now escalated a verbal warning into a lawsuit.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in a New Jersey federal court, Halozyme alleges that a proposed subcutaneous formulation of Merck’s popular cancer drug Keytruda infringes 15 of its patents.

Those intellectual properties belong to a Halozyme patent family called Mdase, which covers a large group of modified human hyaluronidases. A hyaluronidase protein may allow for under-the-skin administration of otherwise intravenously infused drugs.