US Supreme Court rejects Plavix appeal
The US Supreme Court has rejected a generic drug maker's appeal against a decision reinforcing the patent rights for blood-thinning drug Plavix (clopidogrel).
The decision was a victory for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis which make US$9.5b a year in sales from the drug in the US.
The dispute arose after the Canadian firm Apotex applied to market a generic version of clopidogrel shortly before its original patent expired in 2003.
Sanofi sued Apotex for patent infringement, arguing that it had obtained a second patent on the drug which was not due to expire until 2011.
Apotex said that the second patent should not have been granted. "The second patent's only function has been to prolong Sanofi's monopoly by eight years," Apotex argued in its appeal.
However, both the US District Court and Court of Appeals upheld the patent's validity, before the case was sent to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court declined the case without comment.
