Indian patent on Roche's Tarceva upheld

Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) has prevailed in a patent challenge law suit against Indian drug major Cipla (BSE: 500087), with the Delhi High Court today holding that the company was infringing Roche's patent on lung cancer drug erlotinib hydrochloride, sold under the trade name Tarceva, reports the Business Standard and other local media.

A bench of justices arrived at the conclusion by noting that Cipla's Erlocip was one polymorphic form of the erlotinib hydrochloride compound, which may exist in several forms, and Roche's patent claim was not limited to any one such version.

In its 106-page judgment, the court also said that as Cipla "could not establish prima facie that suit patent was obvious" therefore, its plea for invalidating Roche's patent on the ground of 'obviousness' "fails."

The long-running dispute started in January 2008, when Cipla announced its intent to launch a generic version of Erlotinib at 1,600 rupees a tablet, compared to the Tarceva branded price of 4,800 rupees per tablet.