US: Actavis brings on new talent for product-hopping appeal

Actavis has named new lawyers brought on its team as the pharmaceutical conglomerate readies to appeal a court decision made only days ago barring the company from product-hopping.

Actavis has named Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter, along with George Conway III from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to make the case for appealing US District Judge Robert Sweet’s December 11 ruling that bars the company from swapping out its Alzheimer’s treatment Namenda, whose patent is about to expire, for another version of the same drug with a patent valid for the next several years. Judge Sweet found that the tactic, known as product-hopping, was intended to thwart competition from generic drug makers.

But Actavis plans to appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, according to reports.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against Actavis and its Forest Laboratories on claims the Namenda product-hopping was anticompetitive and illegal.

Blatt and Conway III will join Actavis’s defense alongside representatives from White & Case.

Full content: Litigation Daily

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