U.S. Court Finds Abbott Cyclosporine Infringes on Novartis Patent

A U.S. District Court jury in Delaware has found that Abbott Laboratories, Inc. infringed upon a patent of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation when it marketed a generic version of Neoral® cyclosporine, an immunosuppressive drug used by transplant patients.

Novartis said following the verdict that it intended to seek an order forcing Abbott to withdraw its cyclosporine formulation from the market.

If the court orders withdrawal of the Abbott cyclosporine, Novartis said it will implement a "Neoral Assurance Program offering confidential blood level monitoring at no charge for patients who are being switched off of the Abbott product to any other AB-rated cyclosporine product."

There was no immediate estimate as to how many transplant recipients might be affected by such a switch.

Abbott had received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its cyclosporine capsule in May 12, 2000. Novartis, which introduced Neoral in 1995, contended that Abbott's product employed a microemulsion technology invented and patented by Novartis.

"We are pleased that the jury recognized our intellectual property rights and upheld our innovative work in developing cyclosporine," said Jim Harold, a Vice President of Novartis.