Shares of Irvine-based Allergan Inc. rose today after three new patents were listed for its dry eye drug Restasis.
Allergan was up 5% to a market value of $32 billion in early afternoon New York trading.
The patents for Restasis were listed on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s website earlier this week.
Allergan shares had sunk a bit back in June, when the Food and Drug Administration published guidelines that indicated that a generic competitor could be approved without human testing. Allergan fired back in August and called the FDA’s guidance “unsound both scientifically and legally.”
Restasis accounted for $662 million in sales through the first three quarters of this year. Allergan estimates that full-year sales of the drug will come in at $900 million to $920 million.
