Indian pharmaceutical research company Aurobindo Pharma is facing legal action from three large international competitors that have accused the company of patent infringement, media reports reveal. Independently of one another, U.S.-based Hospira and The Medicines Company and Japanese Kowa have taken Aurobindo to court.
In April, Hospira and Orion Corporation filed a case against Aurobindo in the district court of Delaware, accusing the company of replicating their branded version of the sedative Precedex, for which Hospira holds a patent.
The Medicines Company has also started legal procedures against the Indian manufacturer, accusing it of patent infringement of the branded version of Angiomax, a product used as an anti-coagulant in coronary angioplasty recovery. Aurobindo is currently preparing a generic version of Angiomax and its application for the new product is pending approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Medicines Company holds two patents for ingredients of the drug.
The last case was filed by Kowa and Nissan Chemical Industries, which claim that Aurobindo is making a generic version of their branded drug Livalo, for which they hold a patent. Livalo is used in the treatment of high cholesterol levels, elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and triglycerides.
Representatives of Aurobindo were not available to comment but experts pointed out that legal action against generic drug makers over patent infringements is not uncommon in the industry.
