Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA generic drugmaker asked a federal court of appeals Tuesday to lift an order that is preventing it from selling a cheaper copy of Eli Lilly and Co.’s osteoporosis drug Evista, according to Bloomberg News.
The order would expire March 9 anyway. That is the same day Indianapolis-based Lilly and the generic company, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., are set for a trial over the validity of Lilly’s patent on Evista.
U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker, in Indianapolis, granted the order in November, saying that Lilly needed more time because Teva changed its application for generic Evista in July.
The application was filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But lawyers for Teva argued that its changes were routine and should not have prompted Barker to grant an extension, Bloomberg reported.
Evista is Lilly’s sixth-highest-selling drug. It generated 2007 revenue of nearly $1.1 billion. Sixty-five percent of that total came from U.S. sales, which would be affected by court battle between Lilly and Teva.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.