Biovail claims patent victory over Bayer

9 April 2001

Biovail Corp of Canada says a federal court in Georgia, USA, hasdismissed a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Bayer AG against the Toronto-based firm, Elan Corp and Teva Pharmaceuticals over a generic version of the German firm's Adalat CC (nifedipine extended-release; Marketletter May 15, 2000).

The court decided that a 30mg generic version of Adalat CC marketed by Biovail and Teva in the USA does not infringe any Bayer patent, echoing a ruling in 1999 that found in favor of Elan, from which Biovail had licensed the drug to sell in the USA before the Canadian group launched its own version.

Biovail concluded by saying that the Georgia decision also confirms that Bayer's lawsuits "were baseless when filed, and were undertaken strictly for anticompetitive purposes." Bayer, which may yet appeal the court's decision, posted sales of 1.16 billion euros ($1.02 billion) for its whole Adalat range in 2000, an increase of 13% on the previous year.

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