Celebrex, VirnetX, Hartz, Hanesbrands: Intellectual Property

A U.S. appeals court reversed a Food and Drug Administration ruling that effectively blocked until June Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Watson Laboratories Inc. and Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. from selling generic versions of the arthritis drug Celebrex.

The law governing copies of Celebrex, which generates $3 billion in sales annually for Pfizer Inc., is “unambiguous” in favor of the generics, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said in yesterday’s ruling.