Allergan wins round in patent fight over Lumigan

Washington, DC-Allergan won a round in a patent fight against two generic drug makers when an appeals court found a key portion of the patent for its glaucoma drug Lumigan was valid.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit also ruled that Sandoz Inc., the generic unit of Novartis AG, and Barr Laboratories Inc., a business unit of Teva Pharmaceuticals, would infringe that patent if they went through with plans to sell a generic version of Lumigan. The appeals court upheld a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Delaware.

Allergan’s Lumigan has annual sales of more than $600 million.

The case is at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It is Allergan Inc. v. Barr Laboratories, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Sandoz Inc. The case numbers are 2012-1040, 2012-1054.