Alcon responds to Aurobindo’s proposed Vigamox generic
Novartis’s eye care unit Alcon Pharmaceuticals has sued Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma for infringing two patents covering its eye drop solution Vigamox (moxifloxacin hydrochloride) at the US District Court for the District of Delaware.
Alcon launched the case after Aurobindo filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to make and sell a generic version of Vigamox.
In the complaint filed on Tuesday (July 15), Alcon alleged that Aurobindo is infringing two patents covering the drug, which are due to expire on the same day in 2020.
One patent, 6,716,830, is titled “ophthalmic antibiotic compositions containing moxifloxacin”. The other patent at issue, 7,671,070, covers a method of treating ophthalmic infections with moxifloxacin compositions.
Alcon has asked for judgment that the two patents at issue are valid and enforceable, and for a preliminary and permanent injunction against infringement by Aurobindo.
On the same day, Novartis announced that Alcon has agreed to licence its “smart lens” technology to a division of Google.
The “smart lens” has sensors, microchips and other technologies embedded in it that can monitor the body’s glucose levels, and could allow diabetes patients to better manage their condition. Novartis said that the lens also has the potential “to provide accommodative vision correction to help restore the eye’s natural autofocus on near objects.”
