Posts Tagged: "teva"

What follows below is a review of some of the pharma news stories that caught my attention during the month of April 2014. Supreme Court Denies Teva’s Request for an Injunction Relating to Generic Copaxone® — Actavis Announces Celebrex® Patent Challenge Settlement — Actavis Net Revenue Increases 40% to $2.66 Billion in First Quarter 2014.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) recently prevailed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in a patent dispute involving Perforomist® (formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Solution, which has as the active ingredient a bronchodialating compound. The district court confirmed the validity of all patents asserted by Mylan. At issue were U.S. Patent Nos. 6,667,344; 6,814,953; 7,348,362; and 7,462,645, which cover Perforomist through June 2021.

Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease Shows Improved Brain Function — DARPA Awards $25 Million To Develop Messenger RNA Therapeutics™ — Actavis Files ANDA for Generic Suboxone® Sublingual Film — AzaSite® Patents Upheld in Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Sandoz — Surgeons Successfully Remove “Inoperable” Metastatic Breast Cancer — Actavis Files ANDA on Acanya® Gel, Gets Sued by Dow, Valeant — NYSE Inquires About Unusual Market Activity for Ampio Pharmaceuticals — Cannabis Biotech Hires Patent Attorney to Protect Medical Marijuana Innovation — Merck’s Hepatitis C Drug Gets Breakthrough Therapy Designation — Therapeutic Vaccine for Hepatitis C Enters Phase I — Urine Test for Cancer Monitoring — Popular Prenatal Vitamin Patent Upheld in District Court — Clinical Trials on Brain Technology to Assist ALS Patients — Teva Gets Favorable Ruling on COPAXONE in the Netherlands — BVGH Recruits Dr. Linda Venczel as New Program Director — Actavis’s settles with FTC over $8.5 Billion acquisition of Warner Chilcott

The mantra of the anti-patent community is nearly in unison on the issue of patented drugs. Of course, everyone wants drugs to be developed, but no one wants to pay the exorbitant prices charged for blockbuster, patented drugs. You can add me to that list of individuals who doesn’t like the prices, but at least there is a benefit. Without appropriate financial incentives in place drugs would not be patented, but then again they wouldn’t be developed either. But what is the justification for scarcity and exorbitant prices of old drugs that are off patent?

The doctrines of “secret prior art” and “inherency” both merged in the case Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP to surprise, and unpleasantly upend the patentee. Judge Linn’s opinion ruled that “[a]n inventor need not understand precisely why his invention works in order to achieve an actual reduction to practice.” Relying upon the collective holdings in Dow Chemical, Mycogen Plant Science, and Invitrogen, the Federal Circuit panel then concluded that “it is apparent that the district court correctly entered summary judgment” of invalidity of the asserted claims in the ‘502 patent under 35 § 102(g)(2).

Determining what compounds are obvious under the doctrine of “structural similarity” can be a daunting challenge, even for those of us with a chemistry or pharmaceutical background.  Add the doctrine of “inequitable conduct” to the “structural similarity” brew, and the plot truly thickens.  But there’s enough schizophrenia about the structural differences between one prior art compound called Schmutz X and…

Earlier today, Judge Garrett Brown of the United States Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey, issued an Order and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the dispute between between Merck and Teva Pharmaceuticals.  Judge Brown found that the patent in question, US Patent No. 5,565,473, was valid and enforceable, and that the Teva’s Abbreviated New…