Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it dropped its lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over exclusive marketing rights to a generic version of the Allegra allergy drug made by France’s Sanofi-Aventis.
In February, Barr sued the FDA to challenge its decision to make the company share a 6-month exclusive selling period. The company said it is now dismissing the suit because the FDA has said it can obtain sole exclusivity by slightly modifying its application for the drug.
Barr’s version of the 12-hour Allegra-D tablet has tentative FDA approval, meaning the company cannot sell the drug until its patent protection expires. Sanofi-Aventis’ first patent related to the drug expires in 2012. Barr’s stock was up on the news.
