.

24 February 2011

Abbott and Ranbaxy settle patent suit

image Abbott Laboratories has recently settled a pending litigation with Ranbaxy. The litigation was with respect to a cholesterol lowering drug Fenofibrate sold under the brand name Tricor by Abbott Laboratories. The parties settled the dispute, however, the terms of the settlement were kept confidential. 

The litigation started when Ranbaxy now owned by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo, filed an ANDA for launching the generic version of Tricor. Abbott sued Ranbaxy within the stipulated 45 days and automatically triggered the 30 month stay of FDA approval of the ANDA. Though the suit has been settled, exact date when Ranbaxy will be launching the product as part of the settlement was not disclosed.

Moreover, a quick check on Orange book shows a list of patents governing 48mg and 145mg of the drug with the patent number 5145684 being already expired and the last of the patents expiring in Feb, 2023. The entire list of patents provided by Orange book is provided below for quick reference.

Patent No.

Patent Expiration

5145684

Jan 25, 2011

6277405

Jan 9, 2018

6375986

Sep 21, 2020

6652881

Jan 9, 2018

7037529

Jan 9, 2018

7041319

Jan 9, 2018

7276249

Feb 21, 2023

7320802

Feb 21, 2023

Although the financial gains for Ranbaxy from the settlement are not known, it is estimated that the drug generates $1 billion in annual sales from the American market alone.

0 comments: