A judge has denied a bid by Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Lupin Ltd. to launch a generic version of Actavis plc’s oral contraceptive Lo Loestrin. The ruling is a big-dollar win for Covington & Burling; Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto; and McCarter & English.
In a 43-page ruling issued on Friday, U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano in Trenton, N.J. upheld Actavis’s patent on the low-estrogen chemical formulation in Lo Leostrin. That patent was developed by Warner Chilcott Co., which Actavis acquired in October 2013 as part an $8.5 billion stock-for-stock transaction. Pisano rejected arguments by Amneal and Lupin that the patent is invalid on obviousness grounds.
