Cephalon, Inc. announced that today the United States
District Court in Delaware
upheld the validity of Cephalon's U.S. Patent Number 6,264,981 patent and found
that Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s proposed generic version of FENTORA®
(fentanyl buccal tablet) infringes that patent. The Court also denied Watson's
motion to vacate a previously entered injunction preventing Watson from
marketing its product.
"We are pleased with the court's ruling upholding the
validity of our patent, as well as its finding that Watson's product infringes
that patent," said Jerry Pappert, Executive Vice President and General
Counsel of Cephalon.
This decision pertained to patent litigation brought by
Cephalon and its wholly-owned subsidiary CIMA Labs, Inc., against Watson
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiary Watson Laboratories,
Inc., regarding Cephalon's FENTORA product.
FENTORA was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in September 2006.