AbbVie, Taro settle over rosacea drug patents
Ab bVie and its exclusive licensee have settled a patent lawsuit against Taro Pharmaceutical over a generic rosacea drug.
Allergan, an AbbVie division, sued Taro in 2019 at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, citing seven patents covering Rhofade (oxymetazoline). The drug is used to treat rosacea, or redness of the face, by narrowing blood vessels.
Taro had informed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it intended to develop a generic version of Rhofade, prompting patent owner Allergan to sue. EPI Health joined the lawsuit after acquiring IP rights to the drug for $55 million in 2019.
Court documents filed this week indicate the parties have now reached a settlement. All claims have been dismissed, while the parties have also waived their right to appeal. Each party is to bear their own financial costs and attorneys’ fees, while no other financial terms of the settlement were revealed in the court filings.
Allergan and Taro had previously been involved in a patent dispute over acne drug Aczone (dapsone). The case followed a similar pattern, with Taro revealing plans to market a generic version of the Allergan drug, with the parties reaching a settlement in 2019.
Elsewhere, AbbVie settled a trade secrets dispute with rival Evolus over Botox-alternative Jeuveau earlier this year, earning a $35 million payment.
The case swung in AbbVie’s favour last July when the US International Trade Commission issued a preliminary finding that Evolus had developed Jeuveau with the help of trade secrets stolen from Allergan’s South Korean partner Medytox.
The ruling, later affirmed by the ITC in December, initially included an import ban on Jeuveau, preventing its sale in the US. This was later lifted shortly before the settlement was announced in February. The agreement between the parties includes a confidential royalty payment to AbbVie on US sales of the drug.
Ab bVie and its exclusive licensee have settled a patent lawsuit against Taro Pharmaceutical over a generic rosacea drug.
Allergan, an AbbVie division, sued Taro in 2019 at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, citing seven patents covering Rhofade (oxymetazoline). The drug is used to treat rosacea, or redness of the face, by narrowing blood vessels.
Taro had informed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it intended to develop a generic version of Rhofade, prompting patent owner Allergan to sue. EPI Health joined the lawsuit after acquiring IP rights to the drug for $55 million in 2019.
Court documents filed this week indicate the parties have now reached a settlement. All claims have been dismissed, while the parties have also waived their right to appeal. Each party is to bear their own financial costs and attorneys’ fees, while no other financial terms of the settlement were revealed in the court filings.
Allergan and Taro had previously been involved in a patent dispute over acne drug Aczone (dapsone). The case followed a similar pattern, with Taro revealing plans to market a generic version of the Allergan drug, with the parties reaching a settlement in 2019.
Elsewhere, AbbVie settled a trade secrets dispute with rival Evolus over Botox-alternative Jeuveau earlier this year, earning a $35 million payment.
The case swung in AbbVie’s favour last July when the US International Trade Commission issued a preliminary finding that Evolus had developed Jeuveau with the help of trade secrets stolen from Allergan’s South Korean partner Medytox.
The ruling, later affirmed by the ITC in December, initially included an import ban on Jeuveau, preventing its sale in the US. This was later lifted shortly before the settlement was announced in February. The agreement between the parties includes a confidential royalty payment to AbbVie on US sales of the drug.
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