HealthRSS

  • March 16, 2006

    Novartis Takes Aim At Watson Over Lotrel

    Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis Corp. is suing generic drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals on charges of infringement concerning Novartis’ hypertension treatment Lotrel.

  • March 14, 2006

    J&J On Warpath Over Schizophrenia Drug

    Johnson & Johnson has slapped Canadian drug maker Apotex Inc. with a patent infringement lawsuit, the latest attempt to thwart generic versions of its blockbuster antipsychotic drug Risperdal from entering the marketplace.

  • March 10, 2006

    Novogen Sues Chattem Over Preventative Health Methods

    Australian biotechnology company Novogen Research Party Ltd. has slammed Chattem Inc. with a lawsuit, accusing the health manufacturer of infringing on a patented method used to treat breast cancer, pre-menstrual syndrome and menopause.

  • March 8, 2006

    Pfizer Sues Philippines Over Generic Norvasc

    U.S. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. is taking on the Philippines to protect patents that cover its second best-selling drug Norvasc, only one month after a sweeping victory in U.S. courts cleared generic opposition.

  • March 9, 2006

    AstraZeneca Starts Patent Squabble With IVAX

    In a move to fend off a rival’s attempts to produce and market a generic form of Nexium, AstraZeneca AB has fired off a lawsuit against drug maker IVAX Corporation for allegedly infringing on patents related to its widely prescribed ulcer drug.

  • March 3, 2006

    Medtronic Pins Infringement Charges on Boston Scientific

    Although Medtronic Vascular, Inc. has been unsuccessful in the past to pin down infringement charges on Boston Scientific Corp., it took another swipe in its latest court filing March 1, hoping that this time the accusations will stick.

  • March 1, 2006

    Alza Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Ditropan XL

    Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Alza Corporation has been smacked with a class-action antitrust lawsuit, accusing the unit of illegally trying to keep generic versions of overactive bladder drug Ditropan XL off the shelf.

  • March 1, 2006

    Sanofi-Aventis Slaps Ranbaxy With Allegra Patent Suit

    Sanofi-Aventis’ battle with generic drug makers over its popular allergy medicine Allegra is raging on, with the French pharmaceutical giant slapping generic manufacturer Ranbaxy with a patent infringement lawsuit.

  • March 1, 2006

    AstraZeneca Hit Again With Antitrust Charges

    A government service cooperative has charged AstraZeneca with violating U.S. competition law, the latest swipe in a string of suits filed by nearly a dozen unions, pension funds and government agencies accusing the pharmaceutical giant of illegally trying to prevent generic versions of its blockbuster heart drug, Toprol-XL, from entering the marketplace.

  • February 27, 2006

    Federal Circuit Deals Blow To Glaxo In Patent Fight

    Generic pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc. has received a boost from a federal appeals court in its ongoing patent dispute with drug maker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. involving the widely-used antidepressant drug Paxil.

  • February 23, 2006

    $4.6B Biovail Suit Attacks Shorting By Hedge Funds

    Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company, Biovail Corporation, has filed a $4.6 billion lawsuit against 22 institutional and individual investors, alleging that powerful hedge funds conspired with Wall Street analysts in a plot to drive down the company’s shares.

  • February 21, 2006

    AstraZeneca Slapped with Antitrust Lawsuit Over Toprol

    Charged once again with violating U.S. competition law, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca stands accused of illegally trying to prevent generic versions of its blockbuster heart drug Toprol-XL from entering the marketplace, in a lawsuit filed recently by a pension fund.

  • February 21, 2006

    MedImmune-Genentech Battle Moves To High Court

    Biotechnology company MedImmune Inc. gained another chance to fight off rival Genentech Inc. this week, with the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear the previously dismissed case centering on whether a company must refuse to pay royalties before challenging a patent claim.

  • February 17, 2006

    Medtronic Targeted In New Lawsuit By Scientist

    Yet another scientist has accused medical device maker Medtronic Inc. of abusing intellectual property rights, the latest in a series of lawsuits filed against the company after it agreed to pay $1.4 billion to a Los Angeles surgeon last year.

  • February 17, 2006

    Teva Shoots Back With Suit Against Pfizer

    Israeli generics maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. fired off a lawsuit Friday in an attempt to counter claims that it had violated patent laws regarding the production of a popular antibiotic called azithromycin—a generic version of the Pfizer Inc.-developed drug Zithromax.

  • February 16, 2006

    AstraZeneca Appeals Toprol-XL Patent Invalidity

    Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC is appealing a federal court ruling that scuttled its patents for the valuable heart drug Toprol-XL and threatened its pipeline of branded drugs.

  • February 15, 2006

    Federal Circuit Axes Drug Patent For Inequitable Conduct

    Attorneys for Dutch drug manufacturer Ferring B.V. misled patent examiners while securing a diabetes treatment patent, according to a ruling Wednesday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in favor of defendant Barr Laboratories Inc.

  • February 14, 2006

    Stem Cell Patent Battle Brewing Over Korean Research

    An international battle over valuable patents for stem cell research is brewing between one-time collaborators in South Korea and the United States who have filed competing patent applications despite the public collapse of the research’s reliability.

  • February 10, 2006

    Teva Copied Zithromax Update: Pfizer Lawsuit

    Pfizer has followed through on its threat to sue generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals USA for allegedly copying a patented improvement to its bronchitis and pneumonia antibiotic zithromax with its recently released generic version of the drug.

  • February 8, 2006

    Pfizer Takes Action Against Generics At FDA

    Generic versions of Pfizer Inc.’s antibiotic Zithromax made by Teva Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. and Novartis subsidiary Sandoz Inc. do not accurately describe the drugs' active ingredients and are a danger to consumers, according to petition filed by Pfizer with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Tax Traps for Health System Parent Entities

    While new rules under the Pension Protection Act may help combat genuine abuses involving some types of organizations, in the tax-exempt health care sector, they arguably have little merit, say Linda Moroney and T.J. Sullivan of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.

  • Teva v. Novartis: Post-MedImmune Declaratory Judgment

    While Teva goes a long way towards allowing ANDA applicants to obtain “patent certainty” prior to launch, creative opportunity still may exist within the current framework of the Hatch-Waxman Act for innovators to protect product exclusivity, says Alan Grimaldi of Howrey LLP.

  • Emerging Weapons Against Generics Competition

    Drug manufacturers are now using their labels to enforce valuable patent rights and preserve their market share, says Terry G. Mahn of Fish & Richardson PC.

  • Miracle Drug Or Overdose?

    Taking time now to review procedures and to understand what is being prescribed for the health care industry will save health care employers time and money in the future, say Andy Naylor and Paula Walker of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis.

  • Settlements With Payments To Generics Increase: FTC

    The potential for FTC investigation of reverse-payment settlements should remain a significant concern for pharmaceutical firms seeking to resolve pending patent disputes, says Seth Silber of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

  • IRS Issues Complex Guidance On Rollovers To HSAs

    A recent IRS notice, which provides guidance on new rollover rules applicable to Health Savings Accounts under the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, is full of traps for the unwary, say attorneys with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

  • D.C. Court Rebuffs Challenge To Pharmaceutical Statute

    Pharmaceutical manufacturers will need to monitor the District’s implementation of the AccessRx Act of 2004, which imposes fiduciary duties on them and requires them to disclose certain financial information, say Richard Raskin and Ben Keith of Sidley Austin LLP.

  • HIPAA Violation May Form Basis for Lawsuit

    Adherence to HIPAA regulations is important not only to avoid regulatory enforcement, but also to avoid individual lawsuits, which pose a more prevalent and expensive risk, says Philip H. Lebowitz of Duane Morris LLP.

  • Effect Of Deficit Reduction Act On Medicaid Providers

    Federal and state governments intend to be extremely vigilant in identifying and punishing behavior that doesn't comply with the provisions of the Medicaid Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 that address Medicaid fraud, say Connie A. Raffa and Richard Liner of Arent Fox LLP.

  • The EEOC's New Treatment Of Health Care Workers

    The EEOC has taken an aggressive stance interpreting the Americans with Disabilities Act and its reasonable accommodations requirements, signaling its intent to increase enforcement efforts in the health care industry, says Mark Peters of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis PLLC.