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AstraZeneca Sues to Protect Asthma Drug

July 9, 2008

AstraZeneca is suing Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories for patent infringement after the Indian drugmaker submitted an application to sell a generic version of the asthma drug Accolate.

AstraZeneca brought the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey after being informed that Dr. Reddy’s had submitted an ANDA for a generic version of Accolate (zafirlukast) with Paragraph IV certifications on the drug’s ’775, ’097 and ’963 patents. The ’775 and ’097 patents expire in 2011. The ’963 patent expires in 2013.

In its complaint, AstraZeneca asked the court to enjoin Dr. Reddy’s from selling its product before the patents expire.

Accolate had U.S. sales of about $12 million in the first quarter, according to AstraZeneca.