New Jersey District Court jury finds Nycomed's U.S. Patent No. 4,758,579 not invalid: Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA) announced today that a jury returned a verdict in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey finding that Nycomed's U.S. Patent No. 4,758,579 is not invalid. The Court has reserved decision on the issue of what, if any, effect to give to the jury's determinations in connection with the obviousness-type double patenting defenses, which Teva has argued is to be decided by the Court. A decision by the District Court judge independent of today's jury verdict would be sufficient to invalidate the patent.

Teva's Pantoprazole Sodium DR Tablets are the AB-rated generic equivalent of Wyeth's erosive GERD treatment Protonix® DR Tablets. Teva began commercially shipping the product in December 2007.