Chugai wins first round of patent infringement law suit for Oxarol ointment

Japanese drugmaker Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4768) says that, on December 24, the Tokyo District Court granted Chugai an overall victory for the first instance demanding the suspension of patent infringement of the manufacturing process patent owned by Chugai (Patent No 3310301), related to Oxarol (maxacalcitol) ointment 25mcg/g, a treatment drug for keratosis including psoriasis vulgaris.

Chugai, majority owned by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), filed a patent infringement law suit with the Tokyo District Court on February 19, 2013, against Iwaki Seiyaku, Takata Seiyaku and Pola Pharma, the distributors of the generic version of Oxarol ointment, as well as DKSH Japan, the importer of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of the generic versions. In accordance with this judgment, a provisional disposition order will be issued for the four companies to suspend the import of the API and the distribution of products.

Meanwhile, Cerbios-Pharma, the manufacturer of the API for the generic drugs, and the four companies have respectively filed a request for patent invalidation with the Japan Patent Office.