Savient Pharms. v. Sandoz, No. 05 C 5373 (N.D. Ill. 2006) In a short opinion and order signed last Friday, Judge David H. Coar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Abbott Labs’ motion for a Temporary Restraining Order aimed at keeping Sandoz from launching its generic version of Biaxin…

Last Friday, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that granted a preliminary injunction against Apotex in the Plavix case.  The result is not a surprise, given that the Federal Circuit took over five weeks to release its opinion.  The court heard the appeal…

On November 20, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down its decision in Impax's case against Aventis related to Rilutek, which is marketed by Aventis for the treatment of Lou Gehrig's Disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS).  In the twelve months preceding August, 2006, Rilutek (riluzole) had U.S.sales approaching $37…

Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's finding that Mayne Pharma's ANDA for generic Diprivan (propofol) infringes Abraxis Bioscience's U.S. Patent No. 5,714,520 (and two other related patents).  The '520 patent covers improved formulations of Diprivan, an injectable drug used to induce and maintain general anesthesia and…

The Federal Circuit today reversed a district court decision that upheld the validity of Abbott's U.S. Patent No. 5,990,176, finding instead that Abbott's patent is inherently anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 5,684,211.  The '176 patent covers compositions of and processes for making sevoflurane, an inhalation anesthetic that Abbott sells under the brand names Ultane and…

The Federal Circuit heard oral argument this past Tuesday in the Plavix case (Appeal No. 06-1613), in which Apotex is appealing a preliminary injunction enjoining Apotex’s sales of generic Plavix.  An .mp3 audio file of the oral argument may be downloaded from the Federal Circuit’s website (link). On August 31st, Judge Sidney H. Stein of…

Judge Ann D. Montgomery of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota recently granted Paddock Labs’ motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of Warner-Lambert’s U.S. Patent No. 4,743,450, which covers pharmaceutical formulations of moexipril hydrochloride, the active ingredient in Univasc. Warner-Lambert granted Schwarz Pharma an exclusive license under the ‘450 patent to manufacture…

As we previously reported in brief, Eisai recently won summary judgment of patent validity of U.S. Patent No. 5,045,552 in its lawsuit against Teva over generic Aciphex (rabeprazole sodium).  In a separate opinion handed down the same day, the court also denied in part and granted in part Eisai's motion for summary judgment of no…

This morning the Supreme Court denied Ferring B.V.’s cert petition in Ferring v. Barr, a closely-watched inequitable conduct case.  The case concerns Barr’s ANDA to market a generic version of DDAVP (desmopressin acetate), a treatment for diabetes insipidus with annual sales of $200 million. Last February, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision holding,…