Federal court overturns Caraco patent litigation case conclusion

DETROIT A federal court has remanded a patent litigation case surrounding a painkiller drug to a lower court, generic drug maker Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs announced last week, delivering a victory to the branded drug’s manufacturer.

Caraco said a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had remanded the case, filed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ortho McNeil regarding the drug Ultracet (acetominophen and tramadol hydrochloride), while finding that a portion of Ortho McNeil’s patent on the drug was invalid, though Caraco did not specify what portion that was.

Caraco and other companies had been selling generic versions of Ultracet for several years, though J&J had been seeking to get them pulled from the market. J&J’s patent on the drug expires in August 2011, according to the Food and Drug Administration.