Forest Sues Torrent, Watson, Glenmark Over Bystolic Generic

Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) sued Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (GNP) and two other drugmakers claiming they seek to sell a generic version of the hypertension pill Bystolic before a U.S. patent expires.

Forest, based in New York, is the exclusive licensee for the patent issued to Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s Janssen Pharmaceutica in 2003. The generic drugmakers filed for permission to sell versions of the drug’s 2.5-milligram, 5-milligram, 10-milligram and 20-milligram capsules, according to the complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Bystolic, a once-daily treatment, contains nebivolol hydrochloride and is used for the treatment of high blood pressure. The drug was introduced in the U.S. in 2008.

Glenmark declined to comment on the complaint. Glenmark “believes it is the first company to have filed a substantially complete” application with the FDA to sell a generic version of the drug, the Mumbai-based company said in an e-mailed statement.

The U.S. subsidiary of Ahmedabad, India-based Torrent declined to comment on the case. Charlie Mayr, a spokesman for Parsippany, New Jersey-based Watson, didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The case is Forest Laboratories Inc. v. Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TRP), 12-00305, U.S. District Court District, of Delaware (Wilmington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at spearson3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.