King Pharmaceuticals to appeal decision on Altace patent

BRISTOL, Tenn. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will soon be receiving a motion to rehear King Pharmaceuticals case for a patent claim on its blood pressure medication, Altace.

The court had ruled in favor of Lupin’s application for a generic version of the drug, which is co-marketed by King and Sanofi-Aventis.  This though was after a lower court had ruled in favor of King.

King’s patent was said to be invalid based on obviousness, which was used in the Supreme Court decision of KSR International v. Teleflex.  The patent was set to expire in October 2008 of the drug, which made up sales of $163 million in the second quarter, but now the generic could be launched by the end of the year.

King though expects to file a new drug application for an Altace diuretic combination drug its been working on and has just gotten positive results from a phase III clinical trial.