Sun
Pharma sued over patent
Mumbai: Eli Lilly and Company, the US-based multinational
pharmaceutical major, has sued Indian company Sun Pharmaceuticals
in the US, alleging infringement on its patent on Gemzar,
a blockbuster cancer drug.
The
suit, filed with the Southern District of Indiana, is
in response to Sun's abbreviated new drugs application
(ANDA) filed with the US FDA in October 2006 seeking approval
for a generic process to manufacture the drug Gemcitabine.
While Eli Lilly's basic patent on the active pharmaceutical
ingredient Gemcitabine hydrochloride will expire on November
15, 2010, another patent on the method to manufacture
the drug is valid until 2013. Sun Pharma claimed that
the 2013 patent is invalid.
Gemzar,
a commonly used cancer drug to treat non-small cell lung
cancer, pancreatic, bladder and breast cancer, is one
among the top selling drugs of Eli Lilly. The drug had
worldwide sales of US $ 1.408 billion in 2006, including
sales worth US $ 609.8 million coming from the US market.
Sources said Eli Lilly had earlier sued Sicor In February
2006, Eli Lilly filed a lawsuit against Sicor in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and
in response, Sicor filed a declaratory judgment action
in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California demanding to dismiss the suit, asserting the
Indiana court lacks jurisdiction. However, the California
court dismissed that case.
Patent
experts said the litigations initiated by Eli Lilly will
prevent launch of any generic versions of Gemzar by another
30 months, as per the US patent rules.
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Vodafone
looks at acquiring broadband assets
London: British telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc is
looking at building or buying DSL fixed line broadband
infrastructure on a case-by-case basis to launch Internet
services across its mobile markets the company's deputy
chief executive and chief Vittorio Colao for Europe said.
Vodafone
has until now chosen to buy wholesale DSL services in
markets like Britain and Italy. Now the company says it
may go in for an "asset-heavy" approach on a
case-by-case basis and would build its own infrastructure
and launch DSL services in Portugal this summer.
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