A federal court in New Jersey ruled that a patent on Johnson & Johnson's highly profitable prostate cancer treatment Zytiga is invalid, clearing the way for generic competition, according to STAT.
The decision was a victory for generic drug companies including Teva Pharmaceutical and Mylan, two of the generic drugmakers challenging the patent in court. The ruling follows a parallel review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board earlier this year, which also found the patent was invalid. The patent was slated to expire in 2027.
Following the Oct. 26 decision, J&J immediately announced its intent to file an appeal and seek an injunction to halt any generic launches.
Despite striking down the patent, generic drug companies can't launch their copies until Oct. 31 to give the court time to weigh a preliminary injunction motion from J&J to push off generic entry until the appeals process runs its course, according to Bloomberg.
Rushing to make a generic, cheaper version of Zytiga has significant appeal for generic drugmakers because the drug has been profitable for J&J. Zytiga, through the first nine months of 2018, generated $1.4 billion in U.S. sales for the drug giant.
The drug is approved to treat metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
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