AstraZeneca takes action over rival move

A legal row erupted today between drugs giant AstraZeneca and a rival seeking to produce copies of its best-selling treatment for schizophrenia.

AstraZeneca revealed it has gone to the courts in the United States to stop Israeli firm Teva Pharmaceuticals from making cheap versions of Seroquel, which generates more than £1.5bn (€2.2bn) in sales every year.

The Anglo-Dutch firm has filed a lawsuit against Teva in the state of New Jersey for infringing a patent protecting Seroquel that is due to expire in 2011.

It comes after Teva applied to US authorities in September to make a generic version of Seroquel before this date.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said it had “full confidence in and will continue vigorously to defend and enforce its intellectual property rights protecting Seroquel”.

Seroquel has been licensed for the treatment of schizophrenia since 1997 and is available in 85 countries for tackling the symptoms of this condition.

Last month, AstraZeneca said the drug was also effective in treating both manic and depressive episodes of bipolar depression in trials.

News of the lawsuit comes less than a month after Indian firm Ranbaxy Laboratories filed an application with US authorities to create a rival to Nexium, which is used to treat stomach ulcers and heartburn.

AstraZeneca has 45 days to decide whether to start a patent infringement lawsuit that would automatically bar approval of Ranbaxy’s Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for 30 months or until a court decision, which may come before then.

Rival companies are allowed to produce copies of existing drugs once patents have expired, although these rulings are frequently challenged.

Cheaper drugs are popular with government healthcare programmes, but major pharmaceutical firms justify patent protection on the grounds that they invest large sums in developing treatments.