In a win for the generic drug company Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and its lawyers at Winston & Strawn, an appeals court has knocked out a Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s patent on the Hepatitis B drug Baraclude.
In a 20-page decision issued on Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that BMS’s patent on the compound entecavir, marketed as Baraclude, is invalid on obviousness grounds. The ruling, which affirms a lower court decision, paves the way for Teva to launch a low-cost generic version of the drug, which pulled in $314 million in U.S. revenue in 2013. In a press release, Teva said it plans to launch its generic as soon as it receives approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
