Abbott sues Apotex over weight-loss drug Meridia

Abbott Laboratories, the U.S. health-care product maker with $29.5 billion in sales last year, accused Canada’s Apotex Inc. in a lawsuit of infringing a patent for the weight-loss drug Meridia.

The Libertyville Township-based drugmaker asked in a complaint filed today in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, for an order barring Apotex from marketing a generic copy of Meridia until the 1995 patent expires in 2012.

Apotex companies "were aware of the existence of the patent" before seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell copies of Abbott’s tablets, according to the lawsuit, which also seeks legal fees and expenses.

Closely held, Toronto-based Apotex is Canada's largest pharmaceutical company, with more than $1 billion in annual sales, according to its Web site. Apotex was founded in 1974 and its 6,800 employees make more than 300 generic drugs.

Steve Giuli, an Apotex spokesman, didn't immediately return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment.

Abbott fell 3 cents to $54.09 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4:01 p.m.

The case is Abbott Laboratories Inc. v. Apotex Inc., U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).