Takeda wins patent infringement case

Takeda Pharmaceutical has announced that, on appeal, it has won a definitive decision in patent infringement litigation against Alphapharm regarding its marketing of a generic formulation of Actos (pioglitazone hydrochloride).

Together with its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, the firm announced that the US supreme court has denied the petition for a write of certiorari by Alphapharm.

According to this decision, the court has affirmed the earlier appeals court decision to uphold the validity of the company’s US patent number 4,687,777 which covers pioglitazone hydrochloride, the active ingredient in Actos.

Yoichi Okumura, general manager of the intellectual property department of Takeda, said: “We are very pleased that the fair and appropriate ruling regarding this litigation was confirmed by the supreme court.

“We have profound respect for the protection of intellectual property rights because innovation is critical to us as a research and development-oriented pharmaceutical company.”

As a result of this decision, the US Food and Drug Administration will not approve the generic formulation of the drug, nor will Alphapharm launch such a drug until the patent on pioglitazone hydrochloride expires in 2011.

The panel of the US court of appeals for the federal circuits first upheld the validity and enforceability of the company’s US patent in July 2007.