Orange Book Blog

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an Order earlier this week dismissing the patent case Purdue Pharma brought against Teva to protect Oxycontin from generic competition.  Oxycontin, a controlled-release formulation of oxycodone, is a widely-prescribed pain killer with annual sales of $2 billion.  The court dismissed the case because of a settlement agreement reached by the parties in August.  Under the terms of the settlement, Teva will stop selling generic oxycodone no later than March 31, 2007 and Purdue will not pursue damages against Teva for past infringement.

Last February, in a related case that Purdue brought against Endo Pharmaceuticals, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court finding that Purdue's patents were procured through inequitable conduct, and remanded the case.  In an August 28th post, we reported that Purdue and Endo settled that litigation, with Endo agreeing to stop selling generic oxycontin by the end of this year and Purdue agreeing not to pursue damages for Endo's past infringement.

Purdue is still fighting Impax Labs over generic oxycodone sold by Impax's Global Pharmaceuticals division.  That litigation is pending in the S.D.N.Y.  The patents-in-suit are U.S. Patent Nos. 5,656,295; 5,266,331; and 5,508,042.  The last of these patents will not expire until 2013.

Meanwhile, Watson Pharmaceuticals is continuing to sell an authorized generic version of oxycodone.

RELATED READING:

• Teva press release
• Purdue press release
• Watson press release