Bangalore, February 17, 2012: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced that in the ongoing litigation pending in the United States District Court of New Jersey regarding Sun Pharma subsidiary’s and Teva’s generic pantoprazole products, Wyeth has submitted to the District Court confidential expert reports claiming damages arising out of defendant's earlier launch of Protonix, the original molecule, is a registered trademark of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Earlier in 2010, the District Court had denied defendants motion for judgment as a matter of law seeking to reverse the jury verdict that the patent is not invalid. The District Court is yet to rule on patent misuse. Wyeth’ s experts have estimated the purported damages from Sun Pharma to be $960 million. Wyeth’s experts have also claimed Teva may be liable for some of Sun Pharma's damages and vice versa.

In due course, Sun Pharma will also serve upon the parties Sun Pharma’s expert reports providing its own assessment on the purported damages. After this, patent misuse and appropriate level of damages will be determined. Sun Pharma believes that it has sound reasons to disagree with these overstated claims of Wyeth, and also continues to believe that the patent is invalid and unenforceable and will pursue all available legal remedies including appeals.

Source:biospectrumasia.com