Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., the world’s biggest maker of psychiatric drugs, has won an appeals court ruling in its effort to block generic versions of attention-deficit treatment Strattera.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., overturned Friday a judge’s decision that Lilly’s patent on the medicine was invalid. The Federal Circuit remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings. The patent expires in 2017.
Strattera, known by its chemical name atomoxetine hydrochloride, generated sales of $577 million last year for Lilly. The company had won an order that prevented drugmakers including Mylan Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. from entering the market with a generic version until this appeal was decided.
The other companies seeking to sell copies of the medicine include Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit, Synthon BV, Iceland’s Actavis Group, Canada’s Apotex Inc., India’s Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., and Cadila Healthcare Ltd.’s Zydus.
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