Pfizer Loses UK Appeal Court Patent Case Over Lyrica

By Razak Musah Baba

LONDON--Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) attempt to stop generic drug manufacturer Actavis from producing Pfizer's Lyrica drug was Thursday foiled by the U.K.'s appeal court.

In September 2015, a U.K. High Court judge ruled against Pfizer in a patent case involving its blockbuster drug Lyrica, leaving generic-drug makers free to sell cheap copycats of the drug.

Pfizer, the New York-based drug maker, had hoped for a ruling that would protect the exclusive use of Lyrica for pain, even though the patents for two other uses--general anxiety disorder and epilepsy--have already expired.

Pfizer had said it maintained its "strong belief in the validity, and importance, of the second medical-use patent for the use of Lyrica in pain" and planned to appeal the ruling.

Following the appeal, the U.K. Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court's decision that the patent claims asserted by Pfizer are invalid and not infringed by Actavis.

In its judgment, the Court of Appeal gives guidance on what would amount to infringement of second medical use patents by a generic manufacturer. Although infringement may occur when it is known or can be foreseen that some of the generic manufacturer's product will be used to fulfill prescriptions for the patented condition, infringement can be avoided where the generic manufacturer takes all reasonable steps within its power to prevent this from occurring.

Pfizer's original patent expired in 2014, but the secondary patent is intact until 2017. Generic-drug makers, including Actavis, now Allergan PLC (AGN), and Mylan NV (MYL), launched copycat versions of Lyrica when the first patent expired but sought approval only for use in general anxiety disorder and epilepsy.

-Denise Roland contributed to this article

Write to Razak Musah Baba at [e-mail]; Twitter: @Raztweet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)

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