Thursday, March 09, 2006

AstraZeneca sues Ivax for infringing Nexium

AstraZeneca is back again, this time again defending its heartburn drug Nexium against generic challenger, Ivax. On March 08, 2006 AstraZeneca filed a patent lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against IVAX and IVAX’s parent, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., for willing infringement of AstraZeneca’s patents protecting Nexium, generically known esomeprazole magnesium.

The lawsuit was filed in response of an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) filed under Para IV certification by Ivax with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for generic version of Nexium in the US prior to the expiration of the five AstraZeneca orange book listed patents: 5,714,504; 5,877,192; 6,369,085; 6,428,810; and 6,875,872. The expiration dates for these patents range from 2014 through to 2019.

Earlier in November 2005, AstraZeneca also sued Ranbaxy for willfully infringing AstraZeneca’s patents protecting Nexium and filed a lawsuit in response of an ANDA submission for esomperazole magnesium delayed-release capsules under Para IV certification with Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The lawsuit was filed in the same District Court.

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