Eli Lilly Says New Product Doesn't Infringe Patents

By John Kell 

Eli Lilly & Co., facing a lawsuit by Sanofi SA, said it doesn't believe one of its proposed new insulin products infringes upon patents covering Sanofi's Lantus insulin.

The statement from Lilly comes a day after Sanofi filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against it in U.S. district court in Delaware, alleging that one of Lilly's insulin products would infringe on Sanofi's patents.

"Lilly respects the intellectual property of others and does not believe the application for approval of its new insulin...infringes any valid claim of the asserted patents," said Doug Norman, Lilly's general patent counsel.

Lilly and its partner Boehringer Ingelheim recently filed for U.S. regulatory approval of their new insulin product. Lilly has said previously that its proposed product, known as insulin glargine, is similar to Lantus.

According to Sanofi, Lilly challenged the validity of several Lantus patents but said it would not launch its product before the expiration of Sanofi's patent on the active ingredient in Lantus, which is in force through early 2015.

Peter Loftus contributed to this article.

Write to John Kell at [e-mail]

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