Thursday, April 17, 2008

Santarus Announces Receipt of Notice of Allowance for Additional U.S. Patent Covering Zegerid Products

April 17, 2008 - Santarus, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that its licensor, the University of Missouri, has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for U.S. patent application number 10/641,732, which has claims covering methods for treating acid-caused gastrointestinal disorders by administering a solid pharmaceutical composition comprising non-enteric coated omeprazole and certain antacids. Subject to final issuance by the USPTO, the newly allowed claims will have a July 2016 expiration date.

"We are pleased to receive this Notice of Allowance and believe that the allowed patent claims, when issued, will further enhance the intellectual property coverage for our immediate-release ZEGERID(R) (omeprazole/sodium bicarbonate) Capsules and Powder for Oral Suspension products," said Gerald T. Proehl, president and chief executive officer of Santarus.

Santarus has licensed rights to the 10/641,732 patent application, as well as other patents and pending patent applications, under an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with the University of Missouri relating to specific formulations of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) with antacids and other buffering agents and methods of using these formulations. Currently, five U.S. patents have been issued and several U.S. patent applications are pending. In addition to the U.S. patent coverage, several international patents have been issued, including in Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea, as well as in countries within the European Patent Organization, and several international patent applications are pending.

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