Novo Nordisk Wins Semaglutide Patent Challenge From Generic Maker Viatris

On Monday the U.S. Patent and Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruled that Novo Nordisk, maker of semaglutide, did not choose the “obvious” research road drug, thereby denying Mylan Pharmaceuticals its challenge on two of Novo’s existing patents.

Mylan, now Viatris, had claimed that Novo’s liraglutide (Victoza), approved in 2010 and of the same drug class as semaglutide, was the “obvious” model for semaglutide and therefore unpatentable. Semaglutide is the drug in both Ozempic, for diabetes, and Wegovy, for weight loss.

PTAB disagreed. Citing existing literature, PTAB said the leap from developing liraglutide to semaglutide was not intuitive. “One of ordinary skill … seeking to modify liraglutide would need to undertake at least four discrete steps to arrive at semaglutide — some of which entail multiple options and decision points,” the decision states.

Read the PTAB decisions here and here.

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