Patent Fights In Brief: AstraZeneca And Wyeth Face Challenges

AstraZeneca blocks Apotex's generic Pulmicort Respules: A federal court granted AstraZeneca's request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Apotex from launching a generic version of its Pulmicort Respules (budesonide), the pediatric formulation of its asthma drug. The New Jersey district court will hold a hearing on April 27 to determine whether to continue the injunction. FDA approved Apotex's generic on March 30 and AstraZeneca then filed suit claiming Apotex infringed two of its patents covering methods for treating a respiratory disease. U.S. sales of Pulmicort totaled $982 million in 2008, 90 percent of which were for Respules. In November AstraZeneca settled a suit against Teva over the patents, which expire in 2019, granting Teva an exclusive license to begin selling its generic on Dec. 15. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca is to receive "a significant undisclosed royalty on sales of Teva's product, with a marked step down in payments if additional at-risk generic products enter the marketplace." Teva also is paying an undisclosed sum in damages for its unauthorized launch of a generic in November (1"The Pink Sheet," Dec. 1, 2008, In Brief). AstraZeneca filed suit against Breath Ltd. last year after it submitted an ANDA for budesonide