Court Forces Apotex to Pay AZ $98.5 Million for Prilosec Patent Infringement

A federal judge has ordered Apotex to pay AstraZeneca $98.5 million for infringing on patents to the latter’s heartburn drug Prilosec, following an appellate decision affirming most of a $76 million award from a 2013 ruling.

Under a final judgment rendered by Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Apotex must pay $70.9 million in damages, along with prejudgment interest of $27.2 million, postjudgment interest of $203,500 and costs of $203,000.

On April 7, the Federal Circuit appeals court remanded the case back to the district court to recalculate the damages after it reversed a portion of the award because Apotex was authorized to sell its generic for two months before AZ won the infringement decision.

Cote’s 2013 ruling in AstraZeneca AB et al. v. Apotex Corp. et al. concluded that the companies would have agreed upon a license to AZ’s patents in exchange for a 50 percent royalty of Apotex’s profits from selling its generic omeprazole from 2003 to 2007.

Apotex and AstraZeneca could not be reached for comment by press time. — Jonathon Shacat