Germany invalidates patent on pemetrexed

Germany’s federal patent court, the Bundespatentgericht, has declared invalid the German section of European patent EP1,313,508 that protects Eli Lilly’s Alimta (pemetrexed) cytostatic drug until 2021. Stada’s Stadapharm subsidiary immediately capitalised on the ruling, which has not yet been published, to launch a generic rival in the German group’s domestic market.