Merck wins Singulair patent infringement law suit with Teva

The US District Court for the District of New Jersey has ruled in drug major Merck & Co's favor in a patent infringement suit against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA  (a subsidiary of Israeli generics giant Teva). Teva was seeking Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a generic version of 4, 5 and 10mg tablets of Singulair (montelukast sodium), Merck's best-selling asthma and allergic rhinitis drug.

The ruling, involving a product that had 2008 sales of $4.3 billion gives Merck, which is in the process of acquiring fellow major Schering-Plough,  a needed victory as it faces the loss of patent protection in the next five years on drugs with more than $8 billion in annual sales, comments Bloomberg news.

In his decision, Judge Garrett Brown upheld Merck's patent on Singulair and ruled that Teva committed infringement. Judge Brown also issued an injunction blocking the approval of Teva's generic versions until the August 2012 expiration of the patent.