AstraZeneca Looking for Quick Win in Seroquel Patent Case

AstraZeneca has asked for summary judgment in the case it filed to protect its ’288 patent for its bipolar disorder drug Seroquel against generic drugmakers Teva Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz.

In a letter filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Henry Renk, an attorney for AstraZeneca, asks for permission to immediately file a motion for summary judgment that the company’s patent for Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) is not obvious (i.e., valid) and that there has been no inequitable conduct. According to the letter, these are the only legal matters still at issue in the case.

“The proposed motion will eliminate the need for expert discovery, thereby saving considerable time and expense,” Renk says in the letter to Judge Joel Pisano. “However, if Teva informs AstraZeneca that it intends to launch a 25-mg product, AstraZeneca may seek an expedited litigation schedule.”