Novartis Sues Sun Over Proposed Generic Zometa, Reclast
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NOVN) sued Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (SUNP) to block it from selling generic forms of the bone-strengthening medications Zometa and Reclast.
Sun, based in Mumbai, has sought U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell copies, according to a complaint filed July 14 in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Novartis claims the Sun drugs would infringe its patent, which expires in 2028. Basel-based Novartis requested a court order to block the generic drugs until then.
Novartis reported Zometa sales of $1.49 billion last year and Reclast sales of $613 million.
Uday Baldota and Mira Desai, representatives of Sun, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the lawsuit outside regular business hours in India.
The case is Novartis v. Sun Pharmaceuticals, 12-cv-4393, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).
To contact the reporters on this story: David Voreacos in Newark, New Jersey, at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net; Catherine Larkin in Denver at Clarkin4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net; Brad Skillman at bskillman@bloomberg.net.
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