Overview
Steptoe’s success for Sandoz in a patent dispute involving a pediatric medication for asthma was covered by Law360 and the New Jersey Law Journal.
On February 13, a New Jersey federal judge ruled in favor of Sandoz and other defendants, finding that a patent for sterilizing the drug was invalid as obvious.
The case dates back several years, when AstraZeneca filed patent infringement suits after Sandoz and other parties filed ANDAs with the FDA to make generic versions of Pulmicort Respules, a drug that generated $5.6 billion in sales in the United States between 2000 and 2004.
US District Judge Renee Marie Bumb ruled the defendants had proved that there were multiple techniques for sterilization known in the prior art, thus rendering the patent obvious.
Steptoe partner Taras Gracey, who is based in the firm’s Chicago office, leads the Steptoe team representing Sandoz in this case. The team includes associates Thomas Rammer and Gretchen Miller.
The articles can be read at Law360 and New Jersey Law Journal (subscriptions required).