Legal & IP

Glenmark’s advantage for its UK generic version of AstraZeneca’s Forxiga (dapagliflozin) has quickly been snuffed out, after the originator won on appeal its request for injunctive relief.

Sandoz has reached an agreement with AbbVie to dismiss without prejudice patent-infringement litigation involving more than 20 patents shielding the originator’s blockbuster JAK inhibitor Rinvoq.

After Amgen’s surprise launch of the first US biosimilar to Eylea last year, expectations around competition are being further upended with the news that Biocon Biologics has struck a settlement deal with Regeneron allowing it to launch its own aflibercept rival in the second half of 2026. Will other challengers follow suit?

Having failed in US patent litigation over Amgen’s Enbrel, Sandoz is taking an alternative approach in trying to get its Erelzi biosimilar to market in the US ahead of patent expiry in 2029: launching an antitrust attack against the originator for “unlawfully extending and entrenching its monopoly."

Jazz has agreed a nine figure settlement agreement in the US with purchasers of its Xyrem blockbuster following claims that it illegally delayed generic competition to the blockbuster treatment for narcolepsy via patent-litigation settlement agreements with several ANDA sponsors.

With sales of $550m last year and a high barrier to entry, Exparel marks an intriguing target for abbreviated new drug application sponsors. Having shot down a US patent last year and won US FDA approval for its ANDA, Jiangsu Hengrui’s US eVenus Pharmaceutical Laboratories subsidiary and partner Fresenius Kabi have just reached a settlement agreement.

Following recent agreements signed by Hikma and Amneal, Viatris has become the latest company to reach a cash settlement resolving allegations that its practices fuelled the US’ deadly opioid epidemic.

Spanish competition regulator the CNMC has announced an investigation into Sandoz and its Bexal subsidiary – as well as Alliance Healthcare España and Bluetab Solutions – over sharing sensitive commercial information relating to pharmacy orders for generics.

A UK High Court justice came down on the side of Glenmark in AstraZeneca’s bid to enjoin the firm from launching a generic version of its Forxiga blockbuster before judgment is delivered in the firms’ patent-litigation clash.

Teva should not be able to overturn European fines imposed over a historical “pay-for-delay” arrangement covering Cephalon’s Provigil (modafinil), an advocate general of the CJEU has recommended.

In a precedential decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined the meaning of the language “the patent” as it applies to patent-term extensions for reissued patents, in the context of Aurobindo’s bid to wipe out a reissued patent shielding Merck & Co’s Bridion (sugammadex) injectable.

Novartis’ multi-front legal battle against MSN Laboratories over its Entresto blockbuster in the US has taken yet another twist, with a federal district court in New Jersey finding that a preliminary injunction was warranted against MSN’s product on the basis of infringement of Novartis’ trade dress.

Walmart has launched an attack on a host of industry-leading generics firms over historical price-fixing allegations, with the US retail giant seeking treble damages from a Pennsylvania district court.

Amgen’s biosimilar aflibercept formulation is keeping it head and shoulders above other would-be Eylea biosimilar competitors, while continuing to frustrate originator Regeneron’s push to block sales of the product while it battles Amgen over alleged infringement of a key US patent.

Teva will have to delist its ProAir HFA inhaler patents from the FDA’s Orange Book by mid-March, as the Federal Circuit denied its petition for en banc rehearing. Will the Supreme Court listen?

Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor has spoken of his frustration at a lawsuit from J&J seeking to prevent the launch of a private-label ustekinumab biosimilar in the US, which he described as “the desperate actions of an originator trying to protect its market.”

The US Association for Accessible Medicines says it is looking to “protect the public’s interests in ensuring that patents do not let inventors control more than they invented,” as it moved to file in support of MSN Laboratories’ legal tussle with Novartis over a key patent shielding the originator’s $7.8bn Entresto blockbuster.

The same day as Samsung Bioepis and Sandoz launched their partnered Pyzchiva biosimilar rival to Stelara in the US, originator J&J hit the Korean developer with a lawsuit claiming that a private-label commercialization deal with a US pharmacy benefit manager violates the ustekinumab settlement that allowed the firms to launch.

The IGBA has introduced its first global intellectual property and competition report, addressing the urgent need to reform current regulations. But, in a bid to increase access to medicines across the world, did it stop short at just IP and patents?

A month after Vanda failed to win a trade secrets case against the US FDA corresponding to generic approvals for its brands Hetlioz and Fanapt, the originator has again fallen, this time to the agency and Teva in the alleged unlawful approval of the Israeli firm’s generic Hetlioz product.