| CATEGORY: NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SECTOR: PHARMACEUTICALS & BIOTECHNOLOGY |
Update: Nexium settlement lifts AstraZeneca |
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Tue 15 Apr 2008
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - Shares in pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca surged ahead as it secured a favourable settlement in its US patent dispute with India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories over its blockbuster heartburn and ulcer pill, Nexium.
Ranbaxy has conceded that all six patents asserted by AstraZeneca in the patent litigation are valid and enforceable, and also acknowledged that four of the patents would be breached by the unlicensed sale of Ranbaxy’s proposed generic product.
The two companies have agreed that Ranbaxy will be allowed to start selling a generic version of Nexium under licence from AstraZeneca from 27 May 2014, the day on which two of AstraZeneca’s US patents for Nexium expire. AstraZeneca has other patents protecting Nexium that run through to 2019.
Nexium had global sales of $5.2bn in 2007, making it the second most popularly prescribed medicine in the world. Ranbaxy had secured tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in February 2008 to market a generic form of the drug, also known as esomeprazole magnesium.
In separate agreements, Ranbaxy has been designated as the US distributor for authorised generic versions of AstraZeneca’s Plendil (felodipine) and 40mg Prilosec (omeprazole) drugs, and has signed an agreement to formulate a portion of AstraZeneca’s US supply of Nexium from May 2010,
AstraZeneca’s Nexium patent infringement dispute with Teva/IVAX and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories continue.
“I believe that this agreement is the right business decision and gives increased clarity and stability to allow us to continue investing substantially in our growing pipeline of new medicines for patients,” said David Brennan, AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer.
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