Irvine’s Allergan Inc. has won a pair of patent lawsuits over one of its eye drugs.
Late last month, Allergan said a federal judge ruled that Apotex Inc., a Canadian generic drug maker, and India’s Exela Pharmsci Inc. infringed on patents for the company’s Alphagan P glaucoma drug.
Allergan filed two lawsuits in 2007, which were later combined, after Apotex and Exela sought Food and Drug Administration permission to market generic versions of Alphagan P.
Alphagan P is a variant of Allergan’s original Alphagan glaucoma drug with a lower dosage of active ingredient brimonidine.
A judge ruled that all five of Allergan’s patents for Alphagan P are valid and enforceable, according to Allergan.
Alphagan P works by lowering eye pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or hypertension in the eye. Untreated glaucoma can damage the optic nerve and lead to blindness.
Glaucoma affects more than 4 million Americans, according to data from the Glaucoma Research Foundation.
The FDA approved Alphagan P in 2005 just as the original version began to see generic competition.
The development of Alphagan P was seen as part of Allergan’s strategy to protect Alphagan, one of its earliest drugs, with a patent for a reformulated version.
Sales of Alphagan are set to be $350 million to $370 million this year. Wall Street expects Allergan to see overall 2009 sales of $1.13 billion.
An Allergan spokeswoman told Bloom-berg that it was pleased with the court’s decision and that protecting patents is critical to innovation.
Allergan has tangled with Apotex in court over a generic version of one of its drugs before. Earlier in the decade, Allergan prevailed in a lawsuit that alleged Apotex and its Novex Pharma unit infringed on a patent for Acular, which treats inflammation following cataract surgery.
The latest ruling means the FDA can’t approve generic versions of Alphagan P from Exela and Apotex until Allergan’s last patent expires in 2022, the company said.
Medical Records
TriZetto Group Inc. of Newport Beach plans to offer personal health record software at no cost to clients and their covered members.
TriZetto, which has yearly sales of about $500 million, provides software and services to health plans and benefits administrators to help manage data.
The company also runs Web sites that allow patients, doctors and insurers to track healthcare information, appointments and claims.
Health insurers that use TriZetto’s systems cover 106 million Americans.
The personal health records TriZetto’s offering for free allow people to enter family history, emergency contacts, medications and dosages, allergies, immunizations, vital signs and other information.
Health plan members will be able to take the records with them if they change plans.
The personal health records link with TriZetto’s Facets and QNXT administrative systems with updates as medical providers submit medical claims to plan operators.
TriZetto went private in 2008 when it was bought out for $1.4 billion by Apax Partners Inc., a New York private equity firm. Two of TriZetto’s customers, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. and the Regence Group, a Portland, Ore.-based health plan that’s affiliated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, were minority investors.
Bits and Pieces:
AccentCare Inc., an Irvine provider of home healthcare services, said it bought a 90% stake in the home healthcare division of Rogue Valley Medical Center in Oregon … Newport Beach’s Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian said it’s using the Amelior EDTracker emergency room software from Patient Care Technology Systems, a Mission Viejo-based subsidiary of Riviera Beach, Fla.-based Consulier Engineering Inc. … International Education Corp., an Irvine-based career postsecondary education chain, said it started a vocational nursing program at its UEI College in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista … The California Ambulatory Surgery Association, a Northern California-based trade group, had its annual convention last month in Irvine. The meeting included an exhibit fair with companies such as Alcon Inc. and B. Braun Medical Inc., both of which have large operations in Orange County … The Institute for Healthcare Advancement opened a Friends of Family adult healthcare clinic in La Habra. The health center is a nonprofit that provides services based on how much patients can pay.
