Teva notified of lawsuit by Gilead

Teva has been notified of the filing of a lawsuit by Gilead.

It is alleged the company has infringed patent numbers 6,642,245 and 6,703,396, which are associated with emtricitabine, a component of Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).

The lawsuit is based on the Abbreviated New Drug Application filed by Teva, which seeks approval to manufacture and market a generic version of the product before the expiry of both exclusive rights.

Gilead has said it has full confidence in the strength of its patent position and plans to vigorously defend the intellectual property rights of the drug.

Truvada is currently protected by ten patents, which would need to be invalidated or expired before a generic version of Truvada could be marketed.

Last week, Teva said it had received notification from German health insurance company Allgemeinen Ortskrankenkassen (AOK), on the results of a tender for finished dosage pharmaceutical products.

Speaking at the time, Gerard van Odijk, president and chief executive officer of Teva Europe, said: “We believe that with a broader product portfolio which we are continuously expanding and Teva’s scale and backward integrated operations, we will become a significant player in the German generics market.”