AstraZeneca in settlement agreement

AstraZeneca and Ranbaxy Laboratories have reached a settlement regarding six patents of the former’s gastro-oesophageal reflux disease treatment Nexium.

Both companies have filed a consent judgement detailing the terms of the settlement agreement and AstraZeneca’s infringement case against Ranbaxy has been dismissed, AstraZeneca has said.

Ranbaxy accepted that AstraZeneca’s patents are “valid and enforceable” and four of them would have been infringed had it gone ahead with an unlicensed sale of its own generic product.

It will now go ahead with the sale and marketing of its generic product, under licence from AstraZeneca, from May 2014.

In addition, Ranbaxy will formulate a portion of AstraZeneca’s US supply of Nexium from May 2010, which includes provisions for the active Nexium ingredient esomeprazole magnesium, from May 2009.

Under two separate agreements, Ranbaxy has also been named as the US distributor for authorised generic versions of Plendil (felodipine) and 40mg Prilosec (omeprazole).

AstraZeneca chief executive David Brennan said: “We continue to have confidence in the strength of our patents and will vigorously defend our intellectual property.”

Nexium is currently available in more than 100 countries including in Europe, the US and Canada.