By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Eli Lilly & Company won a federal appeals court ruling on Tuesday upholding its patent on Zyprexa, the world’s top-selling schizophrenia drug.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Washington, affirmed a lower court decision that the patent was valid. The Ivax unit of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories had claimed a federal judge was mistaken in ruling the drug was protected until Lilly’s patent expires in 2011.
In addition, “Lilly did not fail to disclose information” to the patent office, as its rivals suggested, the judges said in their 21-page opinion. The opinion upheld a decision by Judge Richard L. Young of United States District Court in Indianapolis.
