Court Rules Against Sanofi’s Patent Litigation

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has ruled against Sanofi-Aventis in its U.S. Eloxatin patent litigation, granting judgment in favor of several generic companies. SA plans to appeal this decision, which if upheld could result in an earlier-than-expected launch of generic Eloxatin in the U.S.

Under the judgment, Hospira’s version of the chemotherapy medication does not infringe on the original. Hospira is anticipating FDA approval shortly for its generic version of Eloxatin. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries also has a version of the drug, which is awaiting FDA approval.

Eloxatin, known generically as oxaliplatin, had more than $1.8 billion in sales in 2008 for Sanofi.