COURT RULING COULD PAVE WAY FOR GENERICS OF ELI LILLY'S GEMZAR
A decision by a US appeals court could pave the way for cheaper generic forms of Eli Lilly's Gemzar cancer drug to be launched in the US beginning in mid-November, Reuters reports.
Eli Lilly has contended that Gemzar, approved to treat ovarian, lung, breast and pancreatic cancer, should not lose exclusivity until mid-2013 because it is protected until then by a separate patent involving the method it is administered.
But a panel of judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Wednesday sided with a Michigan federal district court that last August ruled the method-of-use patent was invalid.