New Article – pharmaceutical polymorphs & patent strategy

by Duncan on May 21, 2008 · View Comments

Polymorphs have been a key component of the pharmaceutical patent war for quite some time. Our latest article takes a brief look at the issues and summarises Duncan’s presentation on 21 May at the Australian Generic Medicines Association conference in Sydney. Let me know what you think.

{ 2 comments }

Kate Beattie May 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm: Duncan, re your recent article, as you may be aware,
Pumfrey J expressed some thoughts about the validity of a patent for a crystalline
form of clarithromycin in Abbott v Ranbaxy and others [2004] EWHC
2723 (decision of Mr. Justice Pumfrey of 19 November 2004). The patent was held to be invalid at an interlocutory stage – but for reasons other than
the lack of novelty of a crystalline form patent (which, he suggested, could
be novel)
Duncan May 25, 2008 at 9:57 pm: Thanks Kate.

Here’s a link to a decision from the Scottish Court of Session which held that a claim to a polymorph of Tibolone with a certain purity was not obvious:

Arrow Generics Ltd v Akzo NB (represented in Scotland by Organon Laboratories Ltd), [2008] CSIH31

Thanks to IPKat for the link.