Plexxikon Inc. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 PLEXXIKON INC., Case No. 17-cv-04405-HSG

8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND

DENYING IN PART MOTION TO

9 v. EXCLUDE THE EXPERT TESTIMONY

OF SUSANA ORTIZ-URDA

10 NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORPORATION, Re: Dkt. No. 204 11 Defendant. 12 13 Pending before the Court is Defendant Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s motion to 14 exclude the testimony of Plaintiff Plexxikon Inc.’s expert Susana Ortiz-Urda. Dkt. No. 204. The 15 Court heard argument on this motion on November 1, 2019. See Dkt. No. 341. As detailed 16 below, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the motion. 17 I. BACKGROUND 18 Defendant challenges the testimony of Plaintiff’s clinical expert, Dr. Susana Ortiz-Urda, as 19 speculative and not based on any reliable methodology. Dkt. No. 204. In her expert report, Dr. 20 Ortiz-Urda offers opinions about the treatment of melanoma, its evolution, and how physicians 21 would respond in the hypothetical scenario in…