BAXTER DID NOT INFRINGE ON ABBOTT'S ANESTHETIC PATENT, RULES DISTRICT COURT

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that Baxter's version of Abbott Laboratories' anesthetic sevoflurane did not infringe on Abbott's patent. The court also found, however, that Baxter did not invalidate Abbott's patent.

Worldwide sevoflurane sales in 2004 totaled nearly $775 million, according to an Abbott spokesman. Abbott markets its inhaled sevoflurane product as Ultane and Sevorane.

Under a separate arbitration agreement, Baxter will not be able to sell generic sevoflurane in the U.S. until Dec. 11.

Judge Robert Guzman ruled that Baxter's use of an epoxy phenolic resin liner in sevoflurane canisters to inhibit the drug's degradation "does not obtain substantially the same result in substantially the same way" as described in Abbott's patent.

At first, the two companies had an agreement for the production of sevoflurane, in which Abbott licensed Baxter's manufacturing process patents in order to produce the drug. In 1998, after Baxter decided to market a generic version of the drug against the agreement, Abbott sued Baxter for infringement.

The district court originally granted summary judgment in favor of Baxter in March 2002, but upon Abbott's request, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to district court for a full trial in July 2003. Baxter originally developed sevoflurane in the 1970s. The drugmaker then licensed the patents to Maruishi Pharmaceutical in the 1980s, which sublicensed the patents to Abbott.