Dive Brief:
- In 2011, Allergan filed a lawsuit against Akorn's Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. Inc., Novartis AG, and Lupin Ltd. based on these companies' plans to develop generic versions of Lumigan (bimatoprost).
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circut upheld the validity of five of Allergan's Lumigan patents and ruled that Akorn had infringed on three of the patents.
- Lumigan is an anti-glaucoma drug.
Dive Insight:
At issue here was the validity of the patents covering Lumigan, which generates roughly $600 million in sales annually. In the case, Allergan Inc. v. Sandoz Inc, No 14-275, the generics manufacturers claimed Allergan's new patents, which covered an improved version of Lumigan (originally approved in 2010) were "obvious" compared with previous versions of the drug, and therefore did not deserve patent protection.
However, the lower Texas court rejected those arguments. In the final ruling, the court said that the proposed generic versions of Lumigan would infringe Allergan's patents. The appellate court has now upheld that ruling.