Sanofi-Aventis learned through the Canadian Ministry of Health website that Novopharm has obtained marketing approval in Canada for a product claiming to be generic enoxaparin.
Sanofi-Aventis companies Aventis Pharma Inc and Aventis Pharma SA are bringing suit in the Federal Court against Novopharm for patent infringement of a Canadian patent that covers Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium injection).
Sanofi-Aventis said that it will vigorously defend its legal rights with respect to this patent.
Lovenox is the number one selling low-molecular-weight heparin in the world and is a unique member of this class of drugs. It was approved in the US and Canada in 1993 and is the only low-molecular-weight heparin in the US approved by the FDA in seven approved indications in thromboembolic disease.