Purdue settles another OxyContin patent suit
Purdue Pharma has settled another patent dispute involving pain drug OxyContin (oxycodone), just weeks after a suit against generics company Amneal Pharmaceuticals came to an end.
Yesterday, August 28, Assertio Therapeutics, a company which focuses on neurology, orphan and speciality medicines, announced it had entered into a settlement with Purdue.
Under the agreement, Purdue will pay Assertio $62 million with an additional $32 million to be paid in February 2019.
In December 2013, Assertio (which was previously known as Depomed) sued Purdue at the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, accusing the company of infringing two US patents, called “Extending the duration of drug release within the stomach during the fed mode”.
Purdue was accused of infringement through the manufacture and sale of OxyContin.
In its second amended complaint, filed in February 2017, Assertio said Purdue had filed petitions for inter partes reviews of the patents in January 2014. At the same time, Purdue requested, and was granted, a stay of litigation.
One year later, in July 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) confirmed the validity of the patents without the need for claim amendments. In March 2016, the US Court of the Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s decision, Assertio said.
Speaking about the settlement, Arthur Higgins, president and CEO of Assertio, said the company was “extremely pleased” to settle the litigation in a manner that is favourable to Assertio.
He added: “This infusion of cash, coupled with the $20 million we recently received from our royalty sale to PDL BioPharma, further strengthens our balance sheet and improves our financial flexibility as we continue to transform the company.”
Earlier this month, LSIPR reported that a patent dispute over a generic version of OxyContin had been brought to an end after Purdue filed a stipulation of dismissal.
In March 2017, Purdue had sued US-based generics company Amneal Pharmaceuticals over alleged patent infringement after Amneal filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application seeking permission to market a generic version of the drug.
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