USPTO Confirms Validity of Bystolic(R) Patent
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Forest Laboratories Inc. logo. (PRNewsFoto/FOREST LABORATORIES)
NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES
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NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Forest Laboratories,
Inc. (NYSE: FRX) announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
("USPTO") has closed prosecution on the merits of the reexamination
proceedings for the patent for Bystolic(R) and confirmed the validity of
all of the previously granted claims. As a result, the USPTO has issued a
Notice of Intent to Issue Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate for U.S.
Patent No. 6,545,040 (the '040 patent) to Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., the
patent holder. The Notice withdraws all of the enumerated rejections and
confirms such validity. The '040 patent covers nebivolol, the active
ingredient in Bystolic(R), a beta-blocker that is currently approved in the
United States for the treatment of hypertension. The '040 patent expires in
April 2020. Forest has applied for patent term extension for this patent
until December 2021.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/FORESTLOGO )
About the Bystolic(R) License
Forest licensed U.S. and Canadian rights to nebivolol from Mylan
Laboratories Inc. in January 2006. Forest markets nebivolol under the
Bystolic trademark in the U.S. Mylan licensed the U.S. and Canadian rights
to nebivolol from Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. in February 2001, and has
obtained Janssen's consent to sub-license nebivolol to Forest Laboratories
in those territories.
About Forest Laboratories
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company
with a long track record of building partnerships and developing and
marketing 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 Report on Form
10-Q, and any subsequent SEC filings.
