Abbott loses appeal bid to block generic of antibiotic Omnicef

Abbott Laboratories lost its appeals court bid to stop generic-drug makers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG's Sandoz unit and Lupin Ltd. from selling copies of the antibiotic Omnicef.

Lupin won a lower-court ruling that its version wouldn't infringe an Abbott patent on the drug. Sandoz and Teva won a separate ruling that let them sell the drug without waiting for a patent-infringement trial.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington today upheld those decisions.