J&J loses patent suit over dementia med

Seven generics makers are high-fiving today after a federal judge declared Johnson & Johnson's patent on Alzheimer's med Razadyne invalid. The ruling is the latest development in a long-standing dispute over the patent that started when J&J sued the copycats to keep their versions off the market. Now, J&J says it will appeal the judge's decision, but Barr, for one, says it's going to launch its generics straight away. So does Mylan.

The other generics makers involved are Teva--which is buying Barr--plus Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Par Pharmaceuticals, and units of Actavis and Merck KGaA. Razadyne accounted for $214 million of J&J's 2007 sales.

- read J&J's Ortho-McNeil release
- check out the story in the Star-Ledger
- see the Interactive Investor news
- get the Wall Street Journal article

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