Pharma Blog Watch

MedImmune, Genentech Case (Patent Baristas)
In his entry, blogger Stephen Albainy-Jenei discusses a Supreme Court case involving MedImmune and Genentech, which "looks at whether a company must stop paying royalties on a patent license to challenge the validity of the patent," he writes. "MedImmune is paying licensing fees to Genentech for an antibody technology used in MedImmune's pediatric respiratory drug Synagis, while at the same time challenging Genentech's patent in court."

"While some argue that allowing a company to challenge a patent while continuing to pay licensing fees reduces the risks to companies like MedImmune and could encourage more disputes and could destabilize thousands of existing patent settlements and license agreements, … others believe that allowing companies to continue to pay royalties while disputing patents could bring more challenges of bad patents."

Vytorin vs. Crestor (PharmaGossip)
A post on this blog reports on the latest development in the "Statin Wars," which is that "Merck and partner Schering-Plough [are] celebrating new US labelling for their combination cholesterol product Vytorin in lowering LDL or 'bad' cholesterol."

"The updated label includes data from a clinical trial which showed that Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin) … was more effective than AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin) in lowering LDL cholesterol at all the doses tested."