The blockbuster baby-saver Synagis may be more profitable if this week?s ruling by the U.S. Patent Office holds.

MedImmune has fought for three years against a California company?s patent on the process by which it makes Synagis. The Patent Office rejected the Cabilly patent of San Francisco-based Genentech Feb. 21. However, MedImmune must continue paying royalties on the drug pending the results of its antitrust suit.