Patent Added to Pulmicort Suit Against Apotex

AstraZeneca has filed an amended complaint in a patent dispute with Apotex over Pulmicort Respules, a treatment for childhood asthma. The revised complaint adds the ’834 patent to the ’603 and ’099 patents. All three expire in 2018 but have pediatric exclusivity extending to 2019, according to the Orange Book. AstraZeneca’s filing in the case AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca AB v. Apotex, Inc. and Apotex Corp. comes a little more than a month after the FDA approved Apotex’s generic Pulmicort Respules (budesonide), prompting the brand-drug maker to file a sealed complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Washington Drug Letter