News
Galen Announces Agreement Resolving Outstanding Patent Challenges on Estrostep® and femhrt® with Bar
Craigavon - Galen Holdings PLC (“Galen”) today announced that it has completed an agreement under which Galen and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc’s subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc. (“Barr”), have agreed to settle the pending patent litigation between the two companies regarding Galen’s Estrostep® oral contraceptive and femhrt® hormone therapy products.
The agreement allows Barr to launch generic versions of those products under the terms of a non-exclusive license six months prior to patent expiry. In a separate agreement, Galen has granted Barr an exclusive royalty-bearing license to develop certain oral contraceptives under a patent owned by Galen.
Commenting on the announcement, Roger Boissonneault, Galen’s Chief Executive Officer said, “We welcome the completion of these agreements and the resolution of this litigation between our two companies. ”
Under the terms of the agreement, Galen granted Barr a non-exclusive license to launch a generic version of Estrostep® in October 2007, six months prior to the expiration of the patent on Estrostep®. Galen also granted Barr a non-exclusive license to launch a generic version of femhrt® in November 2009, six months prior to the expiration of the patent on femhrt®.
Galen is based in Craigavon, Northern Ireland and Rockaway, New Jersey, US. Since the acquisition of Warner Chilcott PLC in September 2000, Galen has been successfully transformed into a specialty pharmaceutical company principally focused on the women’s healthcare and dermatology markets in the United States.