AstraZeneca's Omeprazole Substance Patent Upheld in Germany.Business Editors STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 2000 AstraZeneca today welcomed a decision by the German Federal Patent Court to dismiss an attack on the substance patent for omeprazole omeprazole /omep·ra·zole/ (o-mep´ra-zol) an inhibitor of gastric acid secretion used in the treatment of dyspepsia , gastroesophageal reflux disease, disorders of gastric hypersecretion, and peptic ulcer, including that associated with . In Germany, AstraZeneca's substance patent for omeprazole expired in April 1999. As the patent still is the basis for the Supplementary Protection Certificate In European Union member countries, a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) is a sui generis, patent-like, intellectual property right. This type of right is available for medicinal products, such as drugs, and plant protection products, such as insecticides, and (SPC 1. (business) SPC - Statistical Process Control. Something to do with quality management. 2. (body) SPC - Software Productivity Centre. 3. (company) SPC - Software Publishing Corporation. 4. ) in Germany, it has been subject to a nullity nullity n. something which may be treated as nothing, as if it did not exist or never happened. This can occur by court ruling or enactment of a statute. The most common example is a nullity of a marriage by a court judgment. NULLITY. action by the company Merck-dura GmbH. Omeprazole is the active ingredient in Losec(R). "The German court's decision is highly significant. The research and development work behind the product is very extensive and concerns - in addition to the substance - formulations, manufacturing methods and intermediates. As a result of this advanced work, Losec is protected by a number of different patents," said Dr. Martin Nicklasson, Executive Vice President GI Franchise. In 1999, Losec had sales of $150 million in Germany, representing 2.5 per cent of total sales of the product. In Germany, omeprazole is marketed under the brand name Antra an·tra n. Plural of antrum. MUPS MUPS Multiple Unit Pellet System (pharmaceutical) MUPS Marquette University Players Society MUPS Momentum Unloading Propulsion System (R) (MUPS - Multiple Unit Pellet System). AstraZeneca has filed requests in Germany for preliminary injunctions against ten companies, has filed ten main actions and is currently defending its patent rights in eight other patent cases related to omeprazole. In August 1999, AstraZeneca was granted an interlocutory injunction to prevent ratiopharm GmbH and Merckle GmbH selling a generic version of omeprazole. In February 2000, the German Supreme Court referred a number of questions about AstraZeneca's SPC for omeprazole in Germany to the European Court. Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/09/20000309BIT00540/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/09/20000309BIT00540/bit0002.pdf |
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