The patent includes claims to methods of preparing glatiramer acetate drug product, marketed as Copaxone.
Momenta, a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, is developing a generic version with Sandoz, who has filed an abbreviated new drug application with the US Food & Drug Administration for the product.
Momenta president and CEO Craig Wheeler said the patent is an important addition to the Momenta intellectual property portfolio as it is the first US patent to issue from their expanding portfolio of pending patent applications related to glatiramer acetate, also known as Copaxone.