Astellas gets positive appeal decision

Astellas Pharma has announced that the intellectual property high court has backed the decision of the Tokyo district court in favour of the company in a patent infringement case.

An appeal was brought by Taiyo Yakuhin regarding the oral cephalosporin antibiotic cefdinir, which goes by the brand name Cefzon. It was originally launched by Astellas’s predecessor, Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals, in 1991.

The product was first released as capsules and then two years later as granules, and although the patent on cefdinir expired in 2003, Astellas owns the property rights on the crystalline form of the substance until 2008.

Astellas filed a patent infringement lawsuit in September 2005 following the production by Taiyo of an oral cefdinir capsule known as Ceflosil. The case was judged in Astellas’s favour in March this year, a result that Taiyo appealed against.

It has also been revealed that Astellas has filed a lawsuit claiming damages against Taiyo.

Astellas Pharma was established on April 1st 2005.