Bayer files lawsuit against Russian Xarelto generic producer

German pharma major Bayer (BAYN: DE) has filed a lawsuit against the Russian drugmaker Promomed to protect the patent rights for Xarelto (rivaroxaban), its treatment for stroke prevention which is the best-selling drug in the Russian market at present, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports.

The data of the Moscow arbitration court show that the lawsuit was accepted for proceedings on August 19. As part of this, Bayer demanded compensation in the amount of 12.6 million roubles ($138,766) from the Russian company and asked for interim measures, in particular to prohibit the defendants from selling its generics on public procurements, either independently or through third parties.

The reason for the lawsuit is due to the launch by Promomed of a generic version of Xarelto into the Russian market, despite duration of the patent for the original drug until December 2024.