Life SciencesRSS

  • May 18, 2007

    AstraZeneca Sued Over Seroquel Promotions

    Three health funds have filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca alleging the pharmaceutical company has promoted its antipsychotic drug, Seroquel, for off-label uses, and that doctors have been prescribing it instead of less expensive and more effective drugs for some conditions.

  • May 21, 2007

    MediaTek Dealt Setback In Chip Dispute

    A judge has shot down Taiwanese chip maker MediaTek Inc.’s request to file a summary judgment motion as part of its defense against a patent suit brought by Japanese electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. over integrated circuit chips.

  • May 17, 2007

    Patent Reform Bill Clears First Hurdle

    A House subcommittee has approved a bill aimed at making drastic changes in patent law, setting up congressional debate over whether the changes will improve or impede innovation in the U.S.

  • May 18, 2007

    SeraCare Emerges, Settles Securities Suit

    After a year and a half of negotiations with shareholders, SeraCare Life Sciences Inc. has come out of Chapter 11 and settled a class action suit for $3 million over allegations of securities fraud.

  • May 17, 2007

    Boston Scientific Tries To Settle Guidant Claims

    Boston Scientific Corp. is in negotiations to settle approximately 1,350 product liability suits it took on when it beat out Johnson & Johnson last year for the right to acquire Guidant Corp. for around $27 billion, published reports say.

  • May 16, 2007

    Cases Added to Suit Over Wyeth, Pfizer HRT

    The multidistrict litigation against the makers of controversial hormone replacement drugs has ballooned to over 3,900 consolidated complaints, with a judicial panel this week adding more cases to the list.

  • May 23, 2007

    IP Blacklist Lacks Teeth: Experts

    The office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual report identifying the most serious offenders of intellectual property laws can theoretically lead to a loss of trade benefits for blacklisted countries, but legal experts say tangible improvements to IP enforcement and protection will take much more than the threat of sanctions.

  • May 16, 2007

    Merck Files Second Suit Against Teva Over Singulair

    Not content to bring just one suit against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA over a generic version of asthma and allergy medication Singulair, Merck & Co. Inc. let a Barbados-based subsidiary file a second patent suit against the Israeli generics maker on Monday.

  • May 16, 2007

    Abbott Wants New J&J Stent Patent Declared Invalid

    A patent issued Tuesday and assigned to a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary has spawned two lawsuits over the lucrative and highly litigious market for drug-eluting stents.

  • May 16, 2007

    Biotech Co. Fires Back Against Applera

    A Michigan-based biotechnology company has fought back against a rival company’s lawsuit claiming infringement of three patents covering medical diagnostic kits.

  • May 17, 2007

    Judge Grants Bid To Toss BioSafe's Ch. 11 Case

    BioSafe Medical Technologies Inc. has ducked out of bankruptcy after a judge on Tuesday granted a joint motion to dismiss an involuntary Chapter 11 petition filed on behalf of the home medical testing company’s creditors.

  • May 16, 2007

    Judge Dismisses Bavarian’s Trade Secrets Case

    A judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday in which Bavarian Nordic had accused rival pharmaceutical company Acambis PLC of producing a smallpox vaccine with stolen research.

  • May 15, 2007

    Sanofi-Aventis Sues To Protect Ambien Market

    Sanofi-Aventis has filed a patent suit over Ambien CR, marking at least the second time since February the French pharmaceutical giant has attempted to keep a generic competitor out of the multibillion-dollar market for the insomnia drug.

  • May 15, 2007

    Abbott Sues To Protect Depakote ER

    Abbott Laboratories has filed a lawsuit against an Indian pharmaceutical company and its U.S. subsidiary in a move to stave off efforts to horn in on the billion-dollar U.S. market for the drug Depakote.

  • May 15, 2007

    AstraZeneca Sued Over Breast Cancer Drug

    A married couple has slapped AstraZeneca with a lawsuit, accusing the pharmaceutical giant of illegally producing and promoting a treatment for the early stages of breast cancer that allegedly causes severe injuries, including bone deterioration.

  • May 15, 2007

    Kinetic, Wake Forest File VAC Patent Complaints

    Kinetic Concepts Inc. and a division of Wake Forest University went on the warpath Tuesday, filing patent infringement suits against their rivals over vacuum-assisted wound closure technology.

  • May 15, 2007

    FDA Improvement Act Introduced In House

    Legislation has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that would bar the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from collecting drug user fees that manufacturers pay to seek the agency’s approval for their products.

  • May 15, 2007

    Microsoft Seeks New Trial In Patent Case

    Claiming that two recent Supreme Court decisions have undercut a jury ruling which resulted in the largest damages award ever in a patent case, Microsoft Corp. filed a motion on Monday seeking a new trial in its case with rival Alcatel-Lucent.

  • May 15, 2007

    Roche Workers Lose Appeal Of ERISA Claims

    Claims by a group of sacked Hoffman-La Roche employees that the drug maker outsourced their jobs to avoid future pension payments have been dismissed by an appeals court on a technicality.

  • May 14, 2007

    Supreme Court Won’t Touch EPO Patent Spat

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to tackle the issue of how much authority appeals courts have to scuttle claims construction rulings made by lower courts.