SOUTH KOREAN COMPANY FILES PATENT SUIT AGAINST MERCK

South Korean drugmaker Yuyu has filed a patent suit against Merck over its osteoporosis drug, reports Yonhap News. According to the news agency, this is the first time a multinational drugmaker has been sued by a South Korean firm over patent infringement allegations.

Yuyu claims that Merck's Fosamax Plus D, which helps prevent loss of bone density, infringes on one of its patents. Upon ingestion, "the vitamin D ingredient in Fosamax Plus is converted into calcitriol, an ingredient that we patented in 2001," Yuyu spokesman Lee Chang-Bong told Yonhap News.

Yuyu launched its osteoporosis drug Maxmarvil (alendronate and calcitriol) in 2004. Merck began selling Fosamax Plus D in 2005, according to Yonhap News. Yuyu filed a complaint with the South Korean patent office in June 2006, and MSD Korea, a Merck subsidiary, filed a motion to invalidate Yuyu's patent. The patent isn't set to expire until 2022, Yuyu said.

The Yuyu spokesman told Yonhap News that the company is seeking an injunction to halt sales of Fosamax Plus D.