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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEli Lilly and Co. asked a judge today to block Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. from selling a cheaper generic copy of Lilly’s osteoporosis drug Evista, Bloomberg News reported.
Indianapolis-based Lilly made the request before U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who didn’t make a ruling today, the first day of a patent-infringement trial between the two companies.
Last year, Barker granted Lilly an order that prevented the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from approving Teva’s application to market raloxifene, the generic name for Evista. That order expired today.
Teva’s attorneys said the company is prepared to begin marketing generic Evista right away. But Teva also has made an offer to Lilly to do only a “modest launch” of the generic drug, which would include no marketing.
It was not clear what if any response Lilly gave to that offer.
Teva is arguing before Barker that Lilly’s remaining patents on the drug were obvious and should not have been granted. Lilly is trying to maintain exclusive marketing rights to the drug until 2014.
Evista sales totaled more than $1 billion in 2008.
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