Lilly: German Supreme Court Grants Appeal in Dispute With Actavis
June 14 2016 - 8:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Beckerman
Eli Lilly & Co. said the German Federal Supreme Court
granted the company's appeal in a patent dispute with Actavis over
its Alimta cancer drug, vacating a prior decision denying
infringement by Actavis.
In 2015, Actavis PLC bought Allergan Inc. for about $70.5
billion and changed its name to Allergan PLC.
Alimta treats mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos
exposure. It consists of two patents: The compound patent, which
covers the basic chemical composition, and a second patent, which
covers the method of administering Alimta with vitamins designed to
mitigate side effects.
In the German case, which involves the vitamin regimen patent,
the Supreme Court returned the case to the Court of Appeal for
further proceedings, Lilly said.
An Allergan spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment
late Tuesday.
Lilly lost a similar case to Actavis in February in the U.K.,
saying it planned to appeal the ruling, which affects sales in the
U.K., France, Italy and Spain.
In August, a U.S. federal court ruled that generic products
proposed by a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. unit would
infringe a U.S. patent for Alimta.
Last year, Teva agreed to buy Allergan's generic-drug business
for about $40.5 billion in cash and stock.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 14, 2016 19:56 ET (23:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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