ANDRX LOSES APPEALS CASE TO MARKET GENERIC BIAXIN XL

A federal court has upheld a preliminary injunction preventing Watson subsidiary Andrx Pharmaceuticals from marketing clarithromycinn, a generic version of Abbott Laboratories' extended-released antibiotic Biaxin XL.

In a Jan. 5 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia did not err when it granted the preliminary injunction against Andrx.

The decision is the result of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Abbott against Andrx, Ranbaxy and Teva for allegedly infringing on three key patents held by Abbott relating to extended-release formulations of clarithromycin, the active ingredient in Biaxin.

Andrx had argued that the district court made a flawed ruling when it imposed the injunction against Andrx and absolved the other two generic firms.

Abbott had filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to block sales of generic versions of its drug after being notified of the abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) filed by the generic companies seeking to manufacture and market generic versions of Biaxin.