By Mark Chael --
AstraZeneca's European Patent No. EP 0 652 872 related to
Nexium® was reviewed on December 19, 2006 by the Boards of Appeal at the
European Patent Office. In 2003, this
patent successfully survived an opposition filed by Ratiopharm GmbH of
Germany. However, appeal no. T0401/04
was received on March 16, 2004, a Statement of Grounds of Appeal was filed on
July 6, 2004, and thereafter Oral Proceedings were scheduled for December
19, 2006.
According to Reuters, opinions are mixed whether this
final decision will go for or against AstraZeneca. In 2005, Nexium® accounted for about $4.6 billion (US) to
AstraZeneca's bottom line. Currently, AstraZeneca
is engaged in a patent infringement lawsuit related to Nexium® in the
District of New Jersey (#3:05-cv-05553-JAP-TJB) against a number of defendants,
including Ranbaxy, Ivax, Zenith, and Teva.
Undoubtedly, the European Appeal of EP 0652872 is being closely watched by the defendants in that case. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,714,504; 5,877,192; and 6,875,872 are all members of the same patent family as EP 0 652 872. The U.S. patents are listed in the U.S. FDA's Orange Book as covering Nexium® capsules. However, due to the differences in patent laws and practice across the pond, the impact of the European appeal on the U.S. litigation may be little or none.
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