Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has filed lawsuits against Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; LSE: NOV; SWX: NOVZ) subsidiary Sandoz and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA) for patent infringement on Copaxone, Teva's multiple sclerosis treatment. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
Teva claims that it has patent protection on Copaxone in the US until May 2014 and in much of Europe until 2015.
In July, Momenta and Sandoz announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would review their applications to market generic Copaxone, known as M365. Momenta argues that Teva's Copaxone patents are invalid. Teva announced in response that it would sue both companies for patent infringement within the 45-day period stipulated by the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the Hatch-Waxman Act).
By filing the lawsuit, Teva has blocked both Sandoz and Momenta from obtaining FDA marketing approval for generic Copaxone for 30 months from the filing date or unless the court rules against Teva, whichever comes first.
Copaxone had US sales of $1.1 billion in 2007.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 31, 2008
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