Novartis wins UK court battle protecting Entresto patent after High Court rejects Accord Healthcare’s challenge to launch a competing generic version.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has secured a legal victory after London’s High Court rejected a challenge seeking to invalidate tqhe patent protecting its blockbuster heart drug, Entresto.
The case was brought by Acco2rd Healthcare, a unit of Intas Pharmaceuticals, which had planned to introduce a generic version of the medicine later this year.
The ruling strengthens Novartis’ position as the company faces a series of patent expiries, with Entresto accounting for about 10 percent of its overall sales.
Delivering his judgment, Judge Richard Meade dismissed the challenges against the patent, ruling that it remained valid. He also upheld Novartis’ supplementary protection certificate and found that Accord’s planned product would infringe the company’s intellectual property rights.
The decision follows similar legal proceedings in the Netherlands, where Novartis’ patent was also found to be valid.
However, Novartis suffered a setback in the United States last year after losing a bid to prevent the launch of a generic version of Entresto.
Novartis and Accord Healthcare did not immediately comment on the latest UK ruling.
