Monday, February 25, 2008

Teva Announces Two Court Decisions to Revoke MSD's European Patent on Generic Fosamax

Feb 25, 2008 - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Ticker: TEVA) announced the following decisions by two European courts:

On February 13, 2008, the Hague District Court in the Netherlands, decided to revoke the Dutch part of Merck Sharp & Dohme's ("MSD") European Patent no. 1,175,904, due to lack of inventive step, which relates to Fosamax(R) Once Weekly (Alendronate 70mg Once Weekly). This decision is the first European court decision on the merits of this patent, which is currently being litigated by Teva in Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden and Spain as well as in the European Patent Office.

On February 15, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, decided that MSD Somerset's supplementary protection certificate SPC 96C0032 covering the use of Alendronate for the treatment of Urolithiase and Bone Resorption was invalid for lack of inventive step.
Both decisions may be appealed.

Teva's Alendronate products are a subject to multiple European litigations between MSD, Teva and other parties, relating to both Alendronate 10mg and Alendronate 70mg.

Teva is already marketing Alendronate 10mg and 70mg in various European countries.

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