Life SciencesRSS

  • May 8, 2007

    Philippines Seeks To Invalidate Pfizer Patent

    A federal appeals court ruling last month which invalidated a patent covering Pfizer Inc.’s blockbuster hypertension drug Norvasc has spawned an effort to invalidate the patent in the Philippines.

  • May 7, 2007

    Thailand Makes IP Blacklist For Compulsory Licenses

    The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has added Thailand to its annual list of the most serious offenders of intellectual property laws, citing the country’s recent decisions to issue compulsory licenses for several patented pharmaceutical products.

  • May 7, 2007

    Study: Bill Could Drive Up Drug Costs by Billions

    An association representing pharmacy benefit managers has released a study warning that a bill recently introduced to Congress would loosen antitrust laws and hand the independent drugstore lobby a “license to collude,” thus driving up health care costs by billions of dollars.

  • May 7, 2007

    Lundbeck Loses U.K. Patent Case Over Cipralex

    Danish pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S suffered a blow Friday when a British court ruled against it in a patent dispute with three generic makers over a patent for its top-selling antidepressant drug, Cipralex.

  • May 7, 2007

    U.K. Plaintiffs Dismissed From Hemophilia Case

    A federal appeals court panel has affirmed a lower court ruling that the United Kingdom, and not the United States, is the proper venue for a product liability suit brought by HIV-infected hemophiliacs against a handful of major drug companies.

  • May 7, 2007

    Hospital Operator Seeks Transfer Of Antitrust Suit

    A hospital operator that has been targeted in an antitrust suit alleging it conspired to “destroy” an affiliated doctor’s radiology practice has asked that the case be transferred to federal court.

  • May 4, 2007

    Judge Excludes Accutane Maker's Own Assessments

    The manufacturer of the acne drug Accutane scored a victory Wednesday, when Judge James S. Moody, Jr. granted its hotly contested motion to exclude any evidence related to “causality assessments” that address Accutane’s potential to cause inflammatory bowel disease.

  • May 4, 2007

    PTO Issues Memo On KSR Decision To Examiners

    Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in KSR v. Teleflex, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has advised its examiners to not toss out the teaching-suggestion-motivation test altogether.

  • May 4, 2007

    Brazil Breaks Patent On Merck's AIDS Drug

    Brazil’s president has signed a compulsory license that overrides Merck & Co. Inc.’s patent on HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz so that the country can import a generic version of the drug from India.

  • May 4, 2007

    Lawmakers, Unions Fight FDA Plan To Close Labs

    In a continued effort by lawmakers, labor unions and advocates to stop the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from closing six of its 13 field laboratories, two senators have proposed an amendment that would halt the plan until a study looks at the possible impacts.

  • May 3, 2007

    AstraZeneca Warns Against "Procedural Chaos"

    AstraZeneca has filed a motion with the court overseeing the multidistrict products liability litigation over Seroquel in Florida, asking for permission to begin case-specific discovery, and warning “procedural chaos” will ensue if the requested relief is denied.

  • May 3, 2007

    Teleflex Ruling Doesn't Win Vonage New Trial

    A federal appeals court has rejected Vonage Holdings Corp.’s claim that a patent infringement victory for rival Verizon Communications Inc. should be vacated because of a recent landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • May 3, 2007

    BioSafe Brokers $6M Deal With Creditors

    BioSafe Medical Technologies Inc. may be able to duck out of bankruptcy soon after negotiating a joint motion to dismiss that will see the home medical-testing company shelling out $6 million to pay off its unsecured creditors.

  • May 7, 2007

    Reed Smith Nabs Experienced FDA Partner

    When it comes to regulatory and compliance issues involving the Food and Drug Administration, not many people have more expertise than Fred Branding. This month, Branding took his skills from McGuire Woods LLP to Reed Smith LLP, where he is now a partner in its health care practice group.

  • May 3, 2007

    German Court OKs Bayer-Schering Merger

    A German court on Thursday dismissed two suits brought by Schering AG shareholders in objection to the company’s merger with Bayer AG.

  • May 3, 2007

    FDA Gives Mylan Tentative OK On Generic Femara

    Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has moved closer to regulatory approval to make generic Femara, the drug maker said Thursday, raising the stakes in a patent infringement suit Germany’s Novartis AG filed to protect the popular breast cancer treatment.

  • May 2, 2007

    EBG Launches Clinical Trial Help Group

    In order to help its clients face an increasingly complicated clinical trials regulatory environment, Epstein Becker & Green PC has created a team of legal, clinical and financial experts devoted specifically to solving clinical trials issues.

  • May 2, 2007

    Merck Alleges Infringement Of Antibacterial Drug

    Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. has sued India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. for infringing its patent on the antibacterial drug Primaxin.

  • May 2, 2007

    Biologics Debated At House Subcommittee Hearing

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should be able to approve some generic or follow-on biologic products if given the ability to do so, an agency official said at a hearing Wednesday.

  • May 1, 2007

    FDA Attempt To Quash Subpoenas Denied

    An attempt by the Food and Drug Administration to block a subpoena sought by a small biotechnologies firm in a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has failed, after a district court refused to grant the agency’s request for an injunction.