Abbott sues Boehringer's Roxane over Norvir HIV drug patents

Abbott Laboratories has sued the German drug maker Boehringer AG's Roxane Laboratories Inc. and accused it of infringing three patents for the HIV drug Norvir.

The Libertyville Township-based company contends Roxane is wrongly planning to market a generic version of Norvir tablets before the U.S. patents expire, according to papers filed yesterday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

“Abbott will be irreparably harmed” if Roxane introduces its copy. and “Abbott is entitled to a permanent injunction against further infringement,” according to the complaint.

Abbott is splitting itself into a diversified products company led by its medical device division, and a drug company, to be called AbbVie.

Its best-selling medicine is Humira, a $7.9 billion-a-year injection to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The company also makes blood-sugar meters, coronary stents, nutritional supplements, eye drops and veterinary products.

Officials of Roxane, based in Columbus, Ohio, weren't immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.