Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) lost a patent case last Friday. The company had filed a case to stop Actavis (NYSE:ACT) from selling a lung cancer drug Alimta at a lower cost. The German court, however, did not agree with the company and said that Actavis (NYSE:ACT) could sell the generic drug.
The sales of Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:LLY), an Indianapolis based drug company, will get affected by the lower cost that Actavis (NYSE:ACT) will be offering for the drug as the company generated top sales by selling Alimta. Alimta is a drug that is approved to treat a mesothelioma, a rare form of lunch cancer. Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), in the year 2014, generated revenues of $2.79 billion from its international sales of the drug.
The patent that Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) wanted to get was a combination of two different patents. One was about the chemical composition of the drug and the second was about its administration technique, which included giving the patients specific vitamins to help them recover from the side effects of the drug.
According to the German court’s ruling which was against Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and in favour of Actavis (NYSE:ACT), the latter would not be violating any laws if it decides to introduce a form of dipotassium salt in Germany, while the former’s patent will get expired in December. This ruling contradicts the earlier ruling that was passed last year by a lower court in the country.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is now planning on taking the matter to the Supreme Court of Germany. The company will base its appeal on the fact that it has an exclusive right on the drug till June 2021, due to the patents that the company earned on a vitamin regimen that are to be taken with Alimta.
Michael J. Harrington, the senior vice president as well as the general counsel of the company, was disappointed by the court’s decision. He said that the company strongly opposes the court’s decision regarding Alimta’s vitamin regimen patent. He further said that although Alimta’s compound patent owned by the company’s will remain exclusive in Germany throughout 2015, however the Alimta’s vitamin regimen patent would get violated by the introduction of generic pemetrexed products which include alternative form of salt in Europe before June 2021. He said that the company will be taking the matter to the Supreme Court of Germany.
Last year in May, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) faced a similar situation when English High Court ruled against the company by saying that the company’s competitors will not be violating any rules by introducing generic versions of Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:LLY) drug cancer drug in France, Italy, Spain as well as U.K. The company had appealed the court’s decision but the matter is still pending and the hearing is expected to begin today.
The delay in the patents and the growing competition for its different drugs has affected Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:LLY) overall sales. The company is trying to expand its portfolio through accretive deals. In January, the company closed collaboration deals with Merck & Co. Inc (NYSE:MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) for carrying out clinical trials of cancer drugs that were developed by both the companies.
