A federal appeals court handed a legal victory to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) Friday by upholding a lower court injunction in August that halted sales of a generic version of the blockbuster heart drug Plavix.
The appellate court ruling means that Apotex Inc. of Canada may not resume selling a cheaper, copycat version of Plavix in the U.S. pending the outcome of a patent-rights trial set to begin in January.
Apotex began selling generic Plavix in August despite the existence of a Sanofi U.S. patent for Plavix that doesn't expire until 2011. Apotex argues that the patent is invalid and unenforceable, a contention disputed by Bristol-Myers and Sanofi, which co-market the drug. Plavix generated global sales of $5.9 billion in 2005, according to IMS Health.
In late August, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in New York issued a preliminary injunction halting sales of Apotex's generic Plavix. Apotex appealed the injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, leading to Friday's ruling.
Three of the court's judges upheld Stein's injunction, writing "we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction."
A trial in underlying patent dispute is set to begin Jan. 22 in federal court in New York.
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