Eli Lilly & Co. have won a ruling that its patents for its Evista osteoporosis drug are valid, blocking an attempt by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. to sell a generic version of the bone-loss treatment.
Following a temporary injunction back in April, in a ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker has barred Teva from selling the drug in the U.S. before Eli Lilly’s patents expire in March 2014.
Evista, the drug based on raloxifene, generates income of almost $2 million a day, from sales in the U.S.
Teva, based in Petah Tikva, Israel, received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its generic version of the drug just before the hearing began in March, and claiming that Lilly’s patents were invalid as being obvious, were prepared to market the drug at risk.
Lilly maintained that know-how was insufficient to lead drug companies to come up with raloxifene and the patents were valid and obtained a temporary injunction from Judge Barker in injunction.
in her 120- page decision, Barker wrote that “Teva has failed to meet its burden to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence invalidity of the bone loss patents on the basis of obviousness”.
Teva plans to appeal the ruling, the company said in a statement.
The case is Eli Lilly v. Teva, 06-cv-01017, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis).
