Lilly: U.K. Court Rules in Opponent's Favor on Alimta Patent
February 12 2016 - 10:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Jamerson
Eli Lilly and Co. said it lost a case in the U.K. that would
have prohibited competitors from making a generic form of its key
Alimta cancer drug before the patent expires in 2021.
Lilly said it plans to seek permission to appeal the decision to
the U.K. Court of Appeal; a spokesman for Actavis, the plaintiff in
the case, couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Actavis
changed its name in June to to Allergan PLC.
The ruling affects Alimta sales in the U.K., France, Italy and
Spain. Research firm Evercore ISI said the ruling could allow
generics to launch immediately in the U.K. and then in the other
three countries once reimbursement discussions are complete.
Alimta, Lilly's second-largest product by revenue, treats
mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure. It
consists of two patents: The compound patent, which covers the
basic chemical composition of the drugs, and a second patent, the
one that was under review, which covers the method of administering
Alimta to patients with certain vitamins designed to mitigate side
effects.
Lilly said Friday that the U.K. High Court decided the Alimta
vitamin regimen patent wouldn't be infringed by Actavis's marketing
in the four countries.
The decision comes after the U.K. Court of Appeal held in June
that Lilly's patent would be indirectly infringed by Actavis. The
June decision argued that commercializing the generic vitamins as
Actavis had proposed "would constitute indirect infringement by
supplying an essential means for putting the patented invention
into effect."
In August, a U.S. federal court ruled that generic products
proposed by a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. unit would
infringe a U.S. patent for Alimta.
Alimta sales generated $2.49 billion in 2015 revenue for Lilly,
an 11% decrease from 2014, the company reported last month. Lilly
said the drop was due to decreased demand and, to a lesser extent,
lower prices.
Lilly's shares are down 11% in the past three months through
Thursday's close.
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 12, 2016 09:55 ET (14:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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