Helsinn and Eisai take Aloxi patent fight all the way to US Supreme Court

After a US appeals court last year ruled against Helsinn Healthcare in its patent dispute with Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA), the Swiss company has now announced it will take its legal battle to the highest court in the land.

The appeals court held that certain patents covering the antiemetic agent Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) were invalid and therefore not infringed by Teva’s generic palonosetron product.

Helsinn and partner Eisai (TYO: 4523), which markets Aloxi in the USA, say they have asked the Supreme Court “to consider whether, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the definition of what qualifies to invalidate a patent has changed.”