Apotex, Bristol-Myers, sanofi-aventis cardiovascular news

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York awarded sanofi-aventis $442.2 million in damages plus costs and interest totaling an additional $107.9 million as part of a 2002 patent infringement suit brought by Bristol-Myers and sanofi against Apotex. The suit alleged that a generic version of cardiovascular drug Plavix clopidogrel infringed on sanofi-aventis' U.S. Patent No. 4,847,265. In 2007, the court ruled that sanofi-aventis' '265 patent was valid and enforceable, a ruling that was subsequently upheld in 2008 and earlier this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, respectively. The patent expires in November 2011. ...