BRIEF—Court upholds validity of patent protecting Relistor tablets

Bausch Health Companies and Progenics Pharmaceuticals announced today that the US District Court of New Jersey upheld the validity and determined Actavis' infringement of a patent protecting Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) tablets, expiring March 2031.

Defendant, Actavis Laboratories, a subsidiary of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, had challenged the validity of and had alleged non-infringement of Claims 2 and 5 of US Patent No 8,524,276, which protects the formulation of Relistor tablets, a treatment for opioid-induced constipation.

Bausch Health is not aware of any other Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) filed with the US Food and Drug Administration seeking approval of a generic version of Relistor tablets, and will continue to vigorously defend its intellectual property in these and other claims.