Court rules against KV in Ritalin case

NEW YORK A court has denied KV Pharmaceuticals’ motion to dismiss a suit that Celgene and Novartis brought against it alleging infringement of Celgene’s patents on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug Ritalin.

The two companies received notification from KV last year that the St. Louis-based drug maker had filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration for a generic version of long-acting Ritalin in 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-mg strengths. The two companies alleged that KV violated the ‘284 patents from 1998 and 2003, which Celgene licensed to Novartis and will expire in 2015.

KV attempted to have the suit thrown out, saying that attorneys for Celgene and Novartis failed to reasonably and competently conduct a pre-filing inquiry, which Federal Circuit law requires.

Ritalin (methylphenidate HCl) had sales of $375 million in 2007, according to Novartis financial data.