Ahemdabad: Two local pharmaceutical companies have been restrained from manufacturing and marketing a drug for Type 2 diabetes after a German pharma giant claimed they had infringed on its patent rights.
The case involves Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co, which claimed a drug named linagliptin used to treat diabetes is patented. It approached the court in 2020, citing a news article that Cadila Healthcare Ltd and West Coast Pharmaceutical Works Ltd had got a tentative licence to export the drug and received permission from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for the same.
The German company claimed it holds the patents for linagliptin, which were registered in February 2002 and August 2003, respectively. The patents’ registration was valid for 20 years. Hence the suit was filed for declaration that any production and marketing of linagliptin in any form or formulation would be considered an infringement on the company’s patent rights.
During the city civil court hearing, it was submitted that one of the patents had already expired. “However, the defendant Indian companies could not show any material that they hold the authorization to manufacture the drug,” the court noted in its order.
It further said that since Boehringer Ingelheim has a patent for Linagliptin, and the defendant companies could not show any entitlement to use the patent, “the plaintiff (Boehringer) has prima facie case in its favour and the balance of convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiff. And if the relief sought for is not granted, the plaintiff shall suffer irreparable loss and injury”.
The commercial court judge, Aashish Malhotra, has ordered Cadila and West Coast Pharma not to infringe on patent rights by launching, making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing, and exporting linagliptin in any form whatsoever, including linagliptin formulation, linagliptin tablet, and a combination of linagliptin with metformin hydrochloride tablets. The stay has been granted till the court finally decides the suit.
