US court rules Zytiga patent invalid

The US District Court, District of New Jersey on Friday issued a ruling invalidating all asserted claims of US Patent No 8,822,438 for Zytiga (abiraterone acetate), healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: NJ) blockbuster prostate cancer drug, so opening the door to generic competition.

The Court held that the patent claims would be infringed if the patent were valid. The patent infringement case was filed against several companies who have submitted Abbreviated New Drug Applications for 250mg and/or 500mg tablets, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA) and Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL).

Zytiga had US sales of $1.4 billion in the first nine months of 2018, up 72% on the like 2017 period. J&J’s shares dipped 1.08% to $136.97 by close of trading.