NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Forest Laboratories, Inc.
(NYSE: FRX) announced today that an Office Action in the Reexamination of
U.S. Patent No. 6,545,040 ("the '040 patent") was received from the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") by Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., the
patent holder of the '040 patent. The '040 patent covers nebivolol, the
active ingredient in Bystolic(TM), a beta blocker, which is currently
approved in the United States for the treatment of hypertension. In the
Office Action, the USPTO has rejected all of the pending claims as
unpatentable in view of the cited prior art. We believe the claims are
patentable over the cited art and we will continue to prosecute the
reexamination application. Although there can be no assurance we will
prevail in this matter, we remain confident in the strength of the patent
covering nebivolol.
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About Forest Laboratories
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) is a US-based pharmaceutical company
with a long track record of building partnerships and developing and
delivering products that make a positive difference in people's lives. In
addition to its well-established franchises in therapeutic areas of the
central nervous and cardiovascular systems, Forest's current pipeline
includes product candidates in all stages of development and across a wide
range of therapeutic areas. The company is headquartered in New York, NY.
To learn more about Forest Laboratories, visit http://www.FRX.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number
of risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA
approvals, the acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the
impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and
launch of new products, and the risk factors listed from time to time in
Forest Laboratories' Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form
10-Q, and any subsequent SEC filings.
SOURCE Forest Laboratories, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.frx.com
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CONTACT:
Frank Perier, Jr., Senior Vice President,
Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Forest Laboratories, Inc.,
1-212-224-6611, Frank.Perier@frx.com
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