Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana patent attorneys for Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis,
Indiana (“Lilly”) filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana alleging that Glenmark Generics, Inc., USA of Mahwah, New Jersey (“Glenmark”) infringed Antifolate Combination Therapies, Patent No. 7,772,209, which has been issued by the U.S. Patent Office.
Lilly is engaged in the business of research, development, manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical products worldwide. Glenmark is in the business of distributing, selling, and offering to sell drug products throughout the United States.
ALIMTA®, which is allegedly licensed to Lilly, is a chemotherapy agent used for the treatment of various types of cancer. ALIMTA® is composed of the pharmaceutical chemical pemetrexed disodium. It is indicated, in combination with cisplatin, (a) for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, or (b) for the initial treatment of locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. ALIMTA® also is indicated as a single agent for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer after prior chemotherapy. Additionally, ALIMTA® is indicated for maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy. One or more claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,772,209 (“the ‘209 patent”) cover a method of administering pemetrexed disodium to a patient in need thereof that also involves administration of folic acid and vitamin B12.
This Indiana patent infringement lawsuit arises out of the filing by Defendant Glenmark of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) seeking approval to manufacture and sell generic versions of ALIMTA® prior to the expiration of the ‘209 patent. Glenmark filed as a part of ANDA No. 205526 a certification of the type described in Section 505(j)(2)(A)(vii)(IV) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 55(j)(2)(A)(vii)(IV), with respect to the ‘209 patent, asserting that the claims of the ‘209 patent are invalid, unenforceable, and/or not infringed by the manufacture, use, offer for sale, or sale of Glenmark’s ANDA products.
In its complaint, filed by an Indiana patent lawyer, Lilly states that Glenmark intends to engage in the manufacture, use, offer for sale, sale, marketing, distribution, and/or importation of Glenmark’s ANDA Products and the proposed labeling therefor immediately and imminently upon approval of ANDA No. 205526, i.e., prior to the expiration of the ‘209 patent. Lilly asserts that Glenmark’s actions constitute and/or will constitute infringement of the ‘209 patent, active inducement of infringement of the ‘209 patent, and contribution to the infringement by others of the ‘209 patent.
Lilly asks for:
• A judgment that Glenmark has infringed the ‘209 patent and/or will infringe, actively induce infringement of, and/or contribute to infringement by others of the ‘209 patent;
• A judgment ordering that the effective date of any FDA approval for Glenmark to make, use, offer for sale, sell, market, distribute, or import Glenmark’s ANDA Products, or any product the use of which infringes the ‘209 patent, be not earlier than the expiration date of the ‘209 patent, inclusive of any extension(s) and additional period(s) of exclusivity;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Glenmark, and all persons acting in concert with Glenmark, from making, using, selling, offering for sale, marketing, distributing, or importing Glenmark’s ANDA Products, or any product the use of which infringes the ‘209 patent, or the inducement of or contribution to any of the foregoing, prior to the expiration date of the ‘209 patent, inclusive of any extension(s) and additional period(s) of exclusivity;
• A judgment declaring that making, using, selling, offering for sale, marketing, distributing, or importing of Glenmark’s ANDA Products, or any product the use of which infringes the ‘209 patent, prior to the expiration date of the ‘209 patent, infringes, will infringe, will actively induce infringement of, and/or will contribute to the infringement by others of the ‘209 patent;
• A declaration that this is an exceptional case and an award of attorneys’ fees pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285; and
• An award of Lilly’s costs and expenses in this action.
Practice Tip: The FDA’s ANDA process for generic drugs has been abbreviated such that, in general, the generic drug seeking approval does not require pre-clinical (animal and in vitro) testing. Instead, the process focuses on establishing that the product is bioequivalent to the “innovator” drug that has already undergone the full approval process. The statute that created the abbreviated process, however, had also created some interesting issues with respect to the period of exclusivity. For a look at some of these issues, see here.
The suit was filed by Jan M. Carroll of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. The case was assigned to District Judge Jane Magnus Stinson and Magistrate Judge Denise K. LaRue in the Southern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:14-cv-00104-JMS-DKL.