Celgene ($CELG) and India's Natco Pharma have announced they settled pending patent litigation, and the terms of the deal mean that Natco will be able to start sales of its generic version of Celgene's multiple myeloma drug Revlimid in the United States more than a year before the drug's patent expires.
Celgene also said the settlement would allow Natco and its U.S. partner to market an unlimited quantity of generic Revlimid starting in 2026. The overall patent for Revlimid expires in 2027.
Natco must still receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin selling the generic version. A subsidiary of Allergan ($AGN) was also included in the settlement.
Natco's sales volume for generic lenalidomide will be limited at first to a mid-single-digit percentage of all U.S. sales of the drug and increase every 12 months through March 2025, according to reports from Reuters and Dow Jones.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Celgene said Revlimid has been "given full marketing authorization" in Japan by the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
- here's the report from Reuters, one from Dow Jones and one from BFN