News & Events

Daiichi Sankyo has won an important challenge in the UK to the patent on its blockbuster drug levofloxacin with work from STB lawyers and an outstanding team of UK lawyers. After a 4-week trial in the High Court of Justice in London last summer in which Generics UK challenged the validity of the patent and the extension of the patent term under the UK patent term extension laws, the Court ruled that the patent and the term extension are both valid. This is a significant win for Daiichi Sankyo, as this was the first challenge to the patent to go to trial in Europe, and UK law on the validity of pharmaceutical patents is more favorable to challengers than the law in North America. Daiichi Sankyo has so far won all challenges to the patent in both the US and Canada, including two trials -- and now three.

STB attorneys worked closely with UK counsel on the trial and on pretrial proceedings, including Hank Gutman, Bob Bourque, and Noah Leibowitz.