Abbott sues Mylan over patents for Laetra AIDS drug

Abbott Laboratories, the maker of blood-sugar monitors and heart stents, accused rival Mylan Inc. of infringing two U.S. patents for the AIDS drug Kaletra.

The Libertyville Township-based Abbott contends that Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Mylan plans to sell low-cost generic copies of Kaletra tablets before the patents expire in 2021, according to March 13 complaints filed in federal court in Delaware and in Chicago.

Mylan and two affiliates "know and intend that physicians will prescribe and patients will take" the generic medicine, in violation of the patent rights, Abbott alleges in court papers filed in Wilmington, Delaware.

"Abbott will be irreparably harmed" if generic versions of the drug aren't blocked by a judge, Abbott claimed in the Illinois suit.

Kaletra logged $1.47 billion in global sales for Abbott last year, according to a Jan. 21 company earnings report. The Abbott Park, Illinois-based company reported total revenue of $29.5 billion last year.

The lawsuits were filed a day after Mylan announced that its Secunderabad, India-based Matrix Laboratories Ltd. had received tentative U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the tablets under the president's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

'Affordable Prices'

The approval "confirms our commitment to providing high- quality medicines at affordable prices," Mylan Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Coury said in the statement. The FDA-approved generic is "heat stable," Coury said, improving its utility in warmer climates.

Mylan spokesman Michael Laffin, in an e-mailed statement, said the suit would have no effect on the FDA's approval. Mylan holds a 71.5 percent stake in Matrix, according to the company's March 12 statement.

Abbott rose $1 to $47.85 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Mylan fell 22 cents to $13.05.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's biggest drugmaker, sued Abbott in 2007, accusing it of raising the price of Norvir, one of Kaletra's component drugs, without increasing Kaletra's price, in a bid to drive sales to Kaletra.

Abbott, in a press statement, called the Glaxo case "frivolous," and charged that the Brantford, U.K.-based plaintiff had raised the price of its own AIDs drug, Lexiva, five times between Norvir price increases.

"Abbott believes that Matrix Labs' proposed generic Kaletra tablet infringes its patents and will vigorously defend its intellectual property," company spokeswoman Adelle Infante said by phone.

Also named as a defendant in the Abbott-Mylan litigation is Matrix Laboratories Inc., which Abbott identified as a South Orange, New Jersey-based affiliate of the other defendants.