AstraZeneca looses out on European Nexium-related patent decision; downgraded by BarCap

The European Patent Office has invalidated one of the patents - EP1020461 - on Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) ulcer drug Nexium (esomeprazole), in a challenge from Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Nasdaq: TEVA) and 12 other generic drugmakers, according to a report by the Bloomberg news service.

The European patent agency’s opposition division overturned the patent last Thursday, after a three-day hearing due to a “lack of inventiveness,” Danielle Wagner, a spokeswoman for the Munich, Germany-based EPO said in an interview with Bloomberg.

The setback for AstraZeneca comes as it defends some of its European patents for Nexium at a UK trial against India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories and two years after it settled related litigation in the US Generics makers are vying for a share of Nexium’s $4.97 billion in annual sales, which made it AstraZeneca’s second-best selling drug last year. The EPO will publish its written decision within the next two months. AstraZeneca then has the right to appeal.