US appeals court rules Dr Reddy's infringes Lilly's Alimta patent

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that the Alimta (pemetrexed for injection) vitamin regimen patent would be infringed by competitors that had stated their intent to market alternative salt forms of pemetrexed prior to the patent's expiration in May 2022.

The ruling came in the appeals of US District Court decisions in the cases of US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (BSE: 500124) and Eli Lilly versus Hospira, a unit of Pfizer (NYSEL PFE). Previous rulings in Lilly's favor had precluded the generic companies from launching the alternative salt forms until the patent expires.

Alimta in combination with cisplatin is indicated for the treatment of chemotherapy naïve patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma. The drug generated global sales of $2.13 billion for Lilly in 2018.