A US court has ruled in favour of AstraZeneca in patent litigation concerning asthma treatment Symbicort, the Anglo-Swedish drugs firm said on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca launched the action against generics specialist Mylan Pharmaceuticals in October 2018, and then 3M as well, claiming that various US patents concerning the drug had been infringed. Last year Kindeva Drug Delivery was added to the action, and 3M was voluntarily dismissed.
AstraZeneca said that Mylan and Kindeva contended that each asserted patent claim was invalid under the US patent laws.
However, giving its verdict, the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginian ruled in favour of AstraZeneca. It determined that asserted claims in three of its patents protecting Symbicort in the US were not invalid.
Ruud Dobber, executive vice president of the blue chip’s biopharmaceuticals business unit, said: “AstraZeneca is pleased with the court’s decision and we maintain full confidence in the strength of our intellectual property rights protecting Symbicort.”
Symbicort, which is also used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, is one of AstraZeneca’s blockbuster treatments. It replaced an older version, Pulmicort, which has been used with some apparent success in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
Mylan, which has since merged with Pfizer’s Upjohn unit to form Viatris, and Kindeva were not immediately available for comment.
