Pharmaceutical company Sandoz Inc has persuaded a federal judge in Delaware to dismiss a lawsuit claiming its proposed generic version of a blockbuster lung-disease drug would go against the patent rights of the drug's original manufacturers, Roche Genentech Inc.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Richard Andrew found parts of Genentech's patents to be invalid and rejected the company’s infringement claims.
Genentech’s generic lung-disease drug — Esbriet — is used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), for which there is currently no cure. Last year, Roche earned over $1 billion for global sales of the drug.
Sandoz and other drugmakers, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, were sued by Genentech for patent infringement in 2019 over their proposed generic versions of Esbriet.
The company’s patents cover methods of using Esbriet to treat IBF. Genentech claimed that the label of Sandoz’s generic would encourage doctors to prescribe the drug in a way that infringes.
However, on Tuesday, the judge found that Sandoz’s label only encourages uses of the drug that do not infringe Genentech’s patents.
