Pfizer Loses UK Appeal Court Patent Case Over Lyrica
October 13 2016 - 7:40AM
Dow Jones News
By Razak Musah Baba
LONDON--Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) attempt to stop generic drug
manufacturer Actavis from producing Pfizer's Lyrica drug was
Thursday foiled by the U.K.'s appeal court.
In September 2015, a U.K. High Court judge ruled against Pfizer
in a patent case involving its blockbuster drug Lyrica, leaving
generic-drug makers free to sell cheap copycats of the drug.
Pfizer, the New York-based drug maker, had hoped for a ruling
that would protect the exclusive use of Lyrica for pain, even
though the patents for two other uses--general anxiety disorder and
epilepsy--have already expired.
Pfizer had said it maintained its "strong belief in the
validity, and importance, of the second medical-use patent for the
use of Lyrica in pain" and planned to appeal the ruling.
Following the appeal, the U.K. Court of Appeal has upheld the
High Court's decision that the patent claims asserted by Pfizer are
invalid and not infringed by Actavis.
In its judgment, the Court of Appeal gives guidance on what
would amount to infringement of second medical use patents by a
generic manufacturer. Although infringement may occur when it is
known or can be foreseen that some of the generic manufacturer's
product will be used to fulfill prescriptions for the patented
condition, infringement can be avoided where the generic
manufacturer takes all reasonable steps within its power to prevent
this from occurring.
Pfizer's original patent expired in 2014, but the secondary
patent is intact until 2017. Generic-drug makers, including
Actavis, now Allergan PLC (AGN), and Mylan NV (MYL), launched
copycat versions of Lyrica when the first patent expired but sought
approval only for use in general anxiety disorder and epilepsy.
-Denise Roland contributed to this article
Write to Razak Musah Baba at razak.baba@wsj.com; Twitter:
@Raztweet
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 13, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024