A patent fight led by an Orange County law firm could add up to a windfall for a generic drug maker.
U.S. District Judge Robert Timlin last month granted a summary judgment in favor of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga in a patent case against French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis.
The case involved Sanofi-Aventis’ Lovenox, a blood thinner.
Timlin ruled that Sanofi-Aventis had misled a U.S. patent examiner, thus forfeiting its corner of the market for Lovenox, which accounted for around $1.6 billion in U.S. sales for Sanofi-Aventis last year.
The ruling clears the way for Amphastar to sell a generic version of Lovenox.
Lovenox’s uses include preventing blood clots from forming in heart attack patients.
Jan Weir, a partner at Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth LLC of Newport Beach, led Amphastar’s legal team.
The ruling could be overturned on appeal, which Sanofi-Aventis plans to pursue. If it stands, the court is set to lift a 30-month stay against Amphastar and Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which both are trying to sell generic versions of Lovenox.
Teva also has an OC tie,it spent more than $3 billion in 2004 to buy Sicor Inc., an Irvine-based drug company that makes generic drugs.
Sanofi-Aventis, previously known as Aventis, fielded patent infringement suits against Amphastar and Teva in 2003. Aventis combined with Sanofi-Synthelabo last year.
Analysts have said that if Amphastar and Teva prevail, generic versions of Lovenox could slice into Sanofi-Aventis’ profits by 10%.
Amphastar’s court win is part of an eventful year for the drug maker. Back in February, it filed paperwork for a proposed $115 million initial public offering, though a sale date hasn’t been set yet.
Meanwhile, investors smacked Sanofi-Aventis around after the ruling. The news sent the company’s U.S. traded shares down 5% on heavy trading of 14 million shares. They’ve recovered little since.
Lovenox is one of two large Sanofi-Aventis drugs that are facing American patent challenges. Plavix, a blood platelet anticoagulant that Sanofi-Aventis sells with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., is the other drug.
CalOptima HMO Protested
CalOptima, Orange, is taking heat from doctors, thanks to a new health maintenance organization the county agency is set to start next month.
Doctors blasted CalOptima last month after officials detailed them about plans for OneCare, which could enroll up to 55,000 area residents eligible for both Medi-Cal and Medicare. OneCare is slated for an Aug. 1 start.
Some doctors worry OneCare won’t give the level of benefits that their patients need. They also are fretting about the possibly of the program cutting into their payments. Managed care plans generally pay lower rates than traditional fee-for-service health plans.
CalOptima calls the issue a miscommunication. OneCare aims to make life easier for potential patients, who generally are poor, elderly and disabled, officials said.
OneCare came about through a bill that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law last month. Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher, a Republican from Brea, sponsored the law, which authorized CalOptima and other county health plans around the state to extend their Medi-Cal systems to people who fall under the dual eligible category.
CalOptima, a nonprofit, administers Medi-Cal benefits for the county. CalOptima, which began operating in 1995, serves some 290,000 OC residents who are eligible for Medi-Cal.
The agency contracts with 11 health networks and also participates in Healthy Families, a program designed to give health coverage to children whose parents work, but aren’t offered health insurance through their employers.
Blue Shield Honors Hospitals
Blue Shield of California, which has some 253,000 OC members, honored four local hospitals in June for what the health plan calls “expertise in performing cardiac care.”
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, and the three facilities of Orange-based St. Joseph Health System,St. Joseph Hospital-Orange, Fullerton’s St. Jude Medical Center and Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo,were recipients.
Overall, Blue Shield recognized 28 California hospitals for the award, which was based on a voluntary process. The plan based its award on survey results. Responses were evaluated looking at minimum patient volume levels, “measurable and solid outcomes, superior care processes and a programmatic commitment to integrated, quality care.”
Blue Shield said it had more than $200 million in heart disease-related claims last year alone, and employers were taking an active role in defining and monitoring service quality.
Sun Healthcare Hire
Sun Healthcare Group Inc., Irvine, named Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut, to its board. Kennelly, who starts Aug. 1, replaces Bruce Vladeck, a former Medicare and Medicaid program boss who took a job leading Ernst & Young LLP’s academic medical center practice, which prevents him from serving on a public company’s board. Kennelly has been chief executive of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare since 2002.
