By Jocelyn Allison

Law360, New York (September 23, 2008, 12:00 AM ET) -- Sepracor Inc. and the University of Massachusetts have targeted Pharmaceutical Associates Inc. in the latest effort to protect seasonal allergy treatment Clarinex from the generics market.

The complaint, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, accuses PAI of infringing U.S. Patent Numbers 7,214,683 and 7,214,684, which cover a pharmaceutical composition and method for liquid Clarinex.

The '683 patent covers the composition for descarboethoxyloratadine, the major metabolite of loratadine. Loratadine is the scientific name for Schering-Plough Corp.'s blockbuster allergy treatment Claritin,...