Japan's Shionogi Sues Sawai, Claiming Patent Violation For Antibiotic
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Two Japanese pharmaceutical companies are headed for court over a generic version of a branded biotic drug. Shionogi has sued Sawai Pharmaceutical, saying it violated the plaintiff's patent for the crystallization technique used in making Flomox (cefcapene). Shionogi's cefcapene patent expired last October and Sawai began marketing a generic of it in May. Shionogi said its crystallization patent, however, remains effective through March 2011, and that Sawai's generic violates it. (Click here for more - a subscription may be required