US Court invalidates four of five Merck patents on Cubicin

13 November 2015

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) received a slightly mixed response to its appeal against a court ruling on patent litigation yesterday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit validated the patent for Cubicin (daptomycin for injection) that expires on June 15, 2016, but invalidated four patents with expiration dates in 2019 and 2020. Cubicin came into the Merck portfolio along with its $8.4 billion acquisition of Cubist.

Based on the ruling, generic drugmakers will be permitted to launch copy versions of the antibiotic in June 2016. The drug generated revenues of $325 million for the third quarter of 2015 for Merck.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK