Federal Circuit Tosses Naloxone Patents

“An opinion was issued on Thursday from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The appellants, Adapt Pharma, Inc. and related companies, are litigating against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. over patents held by the plaintiffs regarding the intra-nasal administration of Naloxone for opioid overdose.

Naloxone is a vital treatment of opioid overdoses and can prevent deaths. Prior to the patents at issue in this suit, Nalaxone was delivered intramuscularly using an injection, or intra-nasally using a Mucosal Atomization Device (MAD) kit, the complaint said. The downside of these methods is that an injection requires a trained medical professional, which could require longer time before application of the treatment, while a MAD kit would frequently require assembly and could apply too much medication, which could also affect treatment. The patents at issue in the original suit were for a pre-fabricated device specific to Naloxone which applied the correct amount intra-nasally and which did not require special education to use.”

The Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox team representing Teva was led by J.C. Rozendaal, director and chair of the firm’s Trial & Appellate Group, and includes fellow Directors: Paul Ainsworth, Michael Joffre, Adam LaRock, William Milliken, and Chandrika Vira.

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