Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, on Wednesday, said it had settled a litigation pending in the U.S. District Court regarding its U.S. subsidiary’s generic drug pantoprazole.
A statement from the company said that along with its subsidiaries, Sun had settled an ongoing litigation pending in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.
Under the terms of the litigation settlement between Sun Pharma and Wyeth (now a division of Pfizer Inc.) and Altana Pharma AG (now known as Takeda GmbH), the parties have dismissed all their claims and Sun Pharma will pay a lump-sum of $550 million (around Rs.3,100 crore) as part of the settlement.
A company spokesperson said the payment would be made in the current financial year.
Infringement suit
Wyeth and Altana had filed a suit against Sun Pharma in 2005 after Sun Pharma filed its abbreviated new drug application for pantoprazole, the generic version of Pfizer’s acid-reflux drug Protonix.
Sun launched its generic pantoprazole in the U.S. on January 30, 2008.
In April 2010, a jury had determined that Altana’s patent was not invalid, and, on June 3, 2013, the Court began a jury trial to assess the amount of past damages that Sun Pharma owed for infringing Altana’s now expired patent.
“This settlement now culminates the ongoing litigation. Sun Pharma can continue to sell its generic pantoprazole in the U.S.,’’ the company said in a statement issued here.
