A U.S. district court found the formulation patent for
AstraZeneca PLC's (AZN, AZN.LN) top-selling antipsychotic drug
Seroquel XR was valid, the pharmaceutical company said Thursday,
offering it ammunition in its fight against generic versions of the
drug.
The U.S. District Court for New Jersey also found Par
Pharmaceutical Cos.'s (PRX) Anchen Pharmaceuticals, Osmotica
Pharmaceutical Corp., Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (500420.BY) and
Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. had infringed the drug's
extended-release formulation patent, which expires in 2017,
AstraZeneca said.
The ruling comes after the U.K.'s second-biggest drug company
failed this month to prevent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
from giving final marketing approval to generic forms of Seroquel.
A federal judge Friday refused to grant AstraZeneca an injunction
against the FDA, ruling that the company had failed to make a clear
case that it was entitled to one.
AstraZeneca faces one of the highest exposures to drug-patent
expirations within the pharmaceuticals sector. Seroquel,
AstraZeneca's second best-selling product, generated $5.83 billion
in revenue last year for the company and is the first of its
best-selling drugs to lose U.S. patent protection.
A U.K. court ruled against AstraZeneca's formulation patent
following challenges from companies such as Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries Ltd. (TEVA, TEVA.TV).
AstraZeneca's American depositary shares Thursday closed at
$44.50 and were inactive after-hours.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com