The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) infringed two patents held by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; LSE: PFZ) for Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The Appeals Court ruled in Teva's favor that a third patent was invalid.
A year ago, the US District Court for the Northern District of New Jersey ruled that all three of Pfizer's Celebrex patents were valid. The decision barred Israel-based Teva from launching a competitor drug in the US until December 2015. Pfizer sued Teva in February 2004 after Teva applied to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to sell a generic version of Celebrex.
Global brand sales of Celebrex total $2.3 billion a year, including $1.7 billion in the US.
Recently, Teva also lost a ruling by the US Federal District Court for the District of Delaware, which upheld a patent of Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) for Actonel, a treatment for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Teva intends to appeal this ruling.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 9, 2008
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