US District Court upholds Horizon Pharma’s patent

US District Court upholds Horizon Pharma’s patent

May 15, 2017 Off By Dino Mustafić

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey upheld the validity of Horizon Pharma’s patent covering Pennsaid (diclofenac sodium topical solution) 2% w/w, which Actavis Laboratories UT, Inc.(Actavis) has admitted that its proposed generic diclofenac sodium topical solution product would infringe.  

On July 6, 2015, Horizon filed a patent infringement lawsuit in District Court against Actavis related to Abbreviated New Drug Applications filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market a generic version of Pennsaid 2%.  The lawsuit claims infringement of Horizon’s U.S. Patent No. 9,066,913 (‘913 patent) titled “Diclofenac Topical Formulation,” which covers Pennsaid 2%.  The District Court’s decision was made based on the validity of Horizon Pharma’s ‘913 patent for Pennsaid 2% and the Court’s judgment will prevent Actavis from launching a generic version of Pennsaid 2% in the United States, the company said in its press release.

Pennsaid 2% has 18 Orange Book listed patents with terms that extend to 2030.