Barr challenges Alcon patent on conjunctivitis drug

BANGALORE, India Following an Alcon lawsuit against Barr Pharmaceuticals seeking to block Barr’s generic version of Patanol (olopatadine), Barr announced Thursday that it filed a patent challenge of the drug, Reuters reported.

Barr had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in September for Patanol, a conjunctivitis drug. With the application, Barr had filed a paragraph IV certification, of which it notified Alcon, the patent holder, Barr stated.

A paragraph IV certification states that the generic version of the drug will not infringe the patent of the brand version, or, conversely, that the patent is invalid.