Pfizer Prevails in Accupril Patent Suit

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 30 Jun 2004 - 24:00 PDT

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Pfizer, Inc said today it has prevailed in a patent infringement suit in which Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. (Teva), was seeking approval to sell a generic version of Pfizer's blood pressure medicine Accupril (quinapril hydrochloride).

In a June 29 decision, Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that Warner-Lambert's patent on a stable formulation of quinapril (U.S. 4,743,450), was valid, infringed and enforceable against Teva. The decision affirmed the court's previous findings of infringement and validity. The court also rejected Teva's allegations that Warner-Lambert had committed inequitable conduct in obtaining the patent.

Further, the court issued an injunction blocking the approval of Teva's drug application until the February 2007 expiration of the patent.

"Pfizer is very pleased with the court's decision because it affirms positions the company has maintained with respect to the Accupril patent from the very beginning of the litigation," said Jeff Kindler, Pfizer executive vice president and general counsel. "Pfizer will continue to aggressively defend challenges to its intellectual property."

Judge Debevoise also ruled that Pfizer's victory in the patent case removed any reason to allow Teva to assert antitrust violations against Pfizer and Warner-Lambert. The judge denied as futile Teva's motion in this regard.

In another legal decision involving Accupril, Pfizer earlier this week successfully obtained dismissal without prejudice of a declaratory action filed by another generic company, Apotex Inc., against the Accupril formulation patent.

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