The lawsuit is in response to an abbreviated new drug application filed by Ranbaxy with the FDA to market a generic version of Nexium in the US prior to the expiration of six AstraZeneca patents covering the drug. Expiration dates for the patents range from 2014 through 2019.
“AstraZeneca has full confidence in and will continue vigorously to defend and enforce its intellectual property rights protecting Nexium,” said an AstraZeneca statement.
Earlier this month, AstraZeneca filed a similar suit against Israel’s generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals for infringement of a patent covering Seroquel, a treatment for schizophrenia, after Teva filed an abbreviated new drug application with the FDA for a copycat version of the drug. According to AstraZeneca, the patent covering Seroquel does not expire until 2011.