Patent Baristas

In the collaboration which was initiated only about two years ago in 2003, Pharmacopeia scientists identified lead compounds – from Pharmacopeia’s proprietary collection of 7.5 million drug-like small-molecules – acting at Celgene’s inflammation-related kinase target. The optimization of the potent and selective lead compounds to a pre-clinical development compound took little more than a year, […]

Ten members of the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel who voted that a group of COX-2 inhibitors should continue to be sold had ties to the drug makers, a new analysis shows. A study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest indicates that 10 of the 32 panel members had ties to […]

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with consumer advocacy groups Public Knowledge, and the Consumer Project, filed an amicus brief in the Merck v. Integra case asking the Supreme Court to protect scientific researchers from patent infringement. Merck v. Integra, as we posted earlier here, deals specifically with information researchers submitted to the Food and […]

I received an updated reminder from our associates in Taiwan, Tai E International Patent & Law Office, regarding filing patent applications in Taiwan. Many people know that Taiwan is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that it recognizes claims for priority rights from citizens of all WTO member states. Therefore, nationals of […]

As if the waters at the FDA needed further muddying, a special panel of the US Food and Drug Administration voted last Thursday to allow Pfizer’s pain killer Celebrex to remain on the market, despite a finding that it can cause heart problems in some patients. The panelists voted 31-1 to keep Pfizer’s Celebrex on […]

Even while their battle over Lipitor continues, Pfizer has sued Ranbaxy Laboratories in District Court for patent infringement of its patent on Accupril (the generic name is quinapril), an anti-hypertensive with annual sales of $550 million. Pfizer is suing on U.S. Patent No. 4,743,450, which covers the use of lactose and microcrystalline cellulose for the […]

If you can’t beat them, buy them…………… Novartis AG announced today (Feb. 21, 2005) that it will buy generic drugmakers Eon Labs of the United States and Hexal AG of Germany for $8.3 billion, creating the world’s largest generic drug company. Novartis Chief Executive Daniel Vasella has made no secret of his desire to build […]

Medtronic, Inc. announced that a Delaware jury rendered verdicts in patent litigation between Medtronic and the ACS subsidiary of Guidant Corporation. The jury found the Guidant Lau patents valid and infringed by some of Medtronic stents, including the S7 and Driver stents. However, there will be another hearing regarding Medtronic’s claim that Guidant’s patent is […]