Genentech Inc. said late Wednesday it has settled a long-running fight with MedImmune Inc. over one of the cornerstone patents of the biotech industry.

The patent, Cabilly II, covers certain manufacturing methods for monoclonal antibodies, a type of bioengineered protein that Genentech of South San Francisco, Calif., has turned into several lucrative medicines, including the cancer treatments Avastin and Herceptin. MedImmune filed its original complaint in April 2003.