KING PHARMACEUTICALS PREVAILS IN SUIT AGAINST LUPIN

A federal court has ruled for King Pharmaceuticals in its suit against Lupin for infringing on its patent for the blood pressure drug Altace, King announced July 18.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found King's patent to be valid and enforceable, the Tennessee-based drugmaker said. The ruling means that Indian drugmaker Lupin cannot market a generic version of Altace (ramipril) until October 2008, when the patent expires, unless Lupin successfully appeals the case. King sued Lupin in mid-2005 after it filed to market generic Altace.

Sales of Altace were approximately $160 million in the three months ending March 31, an increase of 84 percent from the same period of 2005.

King said July 6 it had amended a co-promotion agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, in which King said it would assume full responsibility for selling and marketing Altace after 2006. Wyeth agreed to co-promote Altace with King in June of 2000.