EU Patent Office reinstates Merck & Co's Fosamax patent

The European Patent Office has reinstated a patent on US drug major Merck & Co's osteoporosis drug Fosamax (alendronate sodium). The agent was Merck's third-biggest drug, earning over $3.0 billion last year, and it is now protected from generic competition until 2018, which is when the new patent expires. Merck filed a new Fosamax patent last year to correct wording in the original which caused it to be invalidated in 2004. The new patent applies in 23 European contries, but not the UK, and Stefan Oschmann, head of Merck's pharmactical business in Europe told the UK's Financial Times that any copycat versions of Fosamax would be the target of legal action. "We will file law suits," he said. "We will enforce our rights where the patent is valid." The reinstatement of a patent on a currently-marketed drug is very rare and the drugmakers affected include Israeli generic giant Teva and Lek Pharmaceuticals.