Valeant, Depomed Sue Watson Over Patents for Diabetes Drug
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (VRX) and Depomed Inc. (DEPO) sued Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) over patents for a diabetes drug.
Watson, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market generic copies of the diabetes medicine Glumetza before their patents expire, Valeant and Depomed contend in a complaint filed today in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.
“Plaintiffs will be substantially and irreparably harmed” if Watson isn’t stopped from using the protected technology, and Watson should pay damages and legal fees, lawyers for Valeant’s Barbados unit and Menlo Park, California-based Depomed said in court papers.
Watson faces similar allegations in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed a month ago in the same court by Abbott Laboratories (ABT) over generic copies of the Niaspan cholesterol drug.
Charlie Mayr, a spokesman for Watson, didn’t immediately return voice and e-mail messages seeking comment on the allegations.
The case is Depomed v. Watson, 12-CV-492, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
To see the patents, click: 6,488,962; 7,780,987.
To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware, at pmilford@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
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