AstraZeneca files suit against generic copiers of Nexium

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca says that it has filed a law suit in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey against IVAX Corp and IVAX Pharmaceuticals (now owned by Israeli firm Teva Pharmaceutica Industries) and Zenith Laboratories, as well as Teva and its US subsidiary, for willful infringement of its patents protecting Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium), the proton pump inhibitor that generated revenues of $4.6 billion for the company in 2005.

The law suit is in response to an Abbreviated New Drug Application filed by IVAX with the US Food and Drug Administration regarding that firm's intent to market a generic version of Nexium in the USA prior to the expiration of five AstraZeneca Patents: 5,714,504; 5,877,192; 6,369,085; 6,428,810; and 6,875,872. The expiry dates for these patents range from 2014 through to 2019, says AstraZeneca, adding that it has full confidence in, and will continue vigorously to defend and enforce, its intellectual property rights protecting its drug.