UK Court Rules In Favor Of Eli Lilly In Alimta Vitamin Regimen Patent Lawsuit

(RTTNews) - Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) announced that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Alimta (pemetrexed disodium) vitamin regimen patent would be indirectly infringed by a generic competitor that had stated its intent to market certain alternative salt forms of pemetrexed in the United Kingdom prior to the UK patent's expiration in June 2021. The decision came in the case of Actavis v. Eli Lilly and Company.

The Court of Appeal also held there was no difference between the law in the UK and that in France, Italy and Spain as it relates to indirect infringement, and so reversed the High Court's decision granting declarations of noninfringement over the Alimta vitamin regimen patents in those countries.