Eloxatin patent round goes to Sanofi

Sanofi-Aventis has won a somewhat academic victory in the Eloxatin patent fight. A Circuit Court threw out a ruling against Sanofi's Eloxatin patent rights, remanding the fight back to trial court. But the appeal victory comes too late to keep generic versions of the cancer treatment off the market.

"We're going to keep on shipping," Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said of his company's copycat version (as quoted by Dow Jones). Teva Pharmaceutical Industries also launched its generic shortly after the favorable trial-court ruling, as did the Novartis generic subsidiary Sandoz.

Sanofi said it was "gratified" by the court decision. "We ... are considering our next steps," spokesman Geoffrey Bessaud told Litigation Daily. The drugmaker had said during oral arguments at the Circuit that it may seek a permanent injunction against further sales of the generics. But we'll have to wait and see if that happens.

- see the Dow Jones story
- check out the article in Litigation Daily

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