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 Friday, January 28, 2005 |
Merck woes deepen as federal appeals court nixes drug patent
Phillip Hong-Barco at 4:17 PM ET
[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] ruled [PDF opinion] Friday that the patent for the once-a-week version of Fosamax [medical information], the second best selling drug produced by Merck & Co. [corporate website], is invalid. Fosamax currently dominates the market for treatment of osteoporosis. Under the ruling, generic competitors could release their version of the drug within three years rather than waiting until 2018. Fosamax has been lucrative for Merck, with 2004 sales totaling $3.16 billion. The ruling came the say day that Merck formally acknowledged it was under investigation by the SEC in connection with its withdrawal of arthritis blockbuster Vioxx [JURIST report] after research studies found it to be dangerous [Vioxx consumer info]. After heavy trading on the NYSE Friday, Merck shares were down 11.8 percent. AP has more.
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Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
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