Cubist to ask for patent reissue for Cubicin

LEXINGTON, Mass. Cubist Pharmaceuticals is planning on asking U.S. regulators to reissue a patent on the drug Cubicin to block generic competition.

Cubicin is used as a treatment for skin infections and is set to lose its patent in 2016.  Cubist is going to ask the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to correct and reissue a patent regarding the purity level of the compound daptomycin, which is the key ingredient in Cubicin.

On Wednesday, generic manufacturers were allowed to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell generic versions of the drug.  Now, with Cubist seeing corrections from the patent office, the original patent will be removed from the FDA’s registry of information on approved drugs until the mater is handled.