Teva, BASF, Par Pharmaceutical endocrine/metabolic news
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed in part a lower court's 2012 ruling upholding U.S. Patent Nos. 5,656,667 and 5,502,077 covering Pronova Biopharma ASA's lipid-lowering drug, Lovaza. Chemicals company BASF acquired Pronova in January. The Court of Appeals overturned the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware's decision and invalidated the '667 patent, saying that Pronova's former parent company Norsk Hydro ASA "made the inventions claimed in the '667 patent publicly accessible before the statutory bar date." The '667 patent was set to expire in April 2017. The appeals court declined to rule on the '077 patent since it expired in March (see BioCentury, Dec. 3, 2012).
In 2009, Pronova filed suit against Teva and Par claiming their ANDAs for generic versions of Lovaza infringed the '667 and '077 patents. The lower court ruled in May 2012 that the patents were valid and enjoined FDA approval of Teva's and Par's products until 2017. Par and Teva appealed to the Court of Appeals in June 2012. ...