Shire files pair of lawsuits over Carbatrol patent

WAYNE, Pa. Shire Pharmaceuticals has brought patent infringement lawsuits against Nostrum Pharmaceuticals and Apotex for filing applications to market generic versions of its anti-seizure drug Carbatrol.

Shire is suing Nostrum in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for filing an application to market the 100, 200 and 300mg versions of Carbatrol. The company sued Apotex in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for filing an application to market the same generic versions as Nostrum is applying for.

Both companies informed Shire in May that they were filing applications with Paragraph IV certifications on Carbatrol’s ‘570 and ‘013 patents. The ‘570 patent expires in 2011, and the ‘013 patent expires in 2016.

Shire has another suit pending over Carbatrol. In May 2006, the company sued CorePharma in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for infringing on the ‘570 and ‘013 patents. But, Shire amended its complaint to drop the allegations with respect to the ‘013 patent. Last month, CorePharma filed a motion for summary judgment of non-infringement on the ‘570 patent.