US Court of Appeals backs AstraZeneca over Seroquel fight with Teva and Sandoz

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed the Summary Judgment decision of No Inequitable Conduct in patent litigation involving Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca's blockbuster schizophrenia and bipolar drug Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) tablets.

In July 2008, AstraZeneca announced that the US District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the company's Motion for Summary Judgment of No Inequitable Conduct in litigation involving Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Sandoz, the generics business of Swiss drug major Novartis. 

Seroquel is AstraZeneca's best-selling drug, with global sales of $4 billion last year and accounts for around 10% of the firm's revenue, with annual US turnover of $3.5 billion. Teva and Sandoz have announced their intention to appeal the decision to the Federal Circuit. The '288 patent is currently set to expire in 2011, though pediatric exclusivity could extend AstraZeneca's protection until 2012.

This most recent decision upholds the District Court's judgment that Teva's and Sandoz's products will infringe AstraZeneca's Seroquel patent and that the patent is valid and enforceable. Since the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals' affirmed Summary Judgment in favor of AstraZeneca, trial remains unnecessary, said the UK-headquartered drugmaker.