Barr seeks to sell generic schizophrenia drug
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- March
- 20
Pomona-based Barr Laboratories Inc. is challenging the patent of a billion-dollar schizophrenia drug manufactured by Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. of Tokyo, Barr’s parent company confirmed yesterday.
The news comes a day after Otsuka announced it was suing Barr in U.S. District Court in New Jersey to prevent the company from selling generic Abilify, known as aripiprazole.
Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Woodlcliff Lake, N.J., said its generic-drug subsidiary’s application to begin marketing aripiprazole tablets in five dosages was accepted by the Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 15, the first date the regulatory agency could accept such a petition.
Barr said it believed it was one of several companies to file an application challenging Otsuka’s patent. In addition to schizophrenia, Abilify is also prescribed as a treatment for symptoms of bipolar disorder.
The drug had U.S. sales of about $1.9 billion in the year ending January, according to industry data.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 4:56 pm by David Schepp.
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