Introduction
On April 10, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a landmark initiative to phase out animal testing in drug development, signaling a major shift toward human-relevant, science-driven alternatives. This initiative formalizes the agency’s long-building effort to incorporate New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) into regulatory review and follows the release of draft guidance
With healthcare costs rising and biologics driving a large portion of drug spend, the next wave of biosimilar launches promises to reshape the U.S. pharmaceutical market in profound ways, including reduced prices for close analogs of existing reference blockbuster branded products. This post provides a roadmap into this evolution, focusing on potential biosimilar approvals and launches
Biosimilars, once a niche segment in the pharmaceutical industry, are now making a significant impact on global healthcare. These products are highly similar to an already-approved reference product, offering a more
On March 13, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a five-year patent term extension (“PTE”) for Merck’s sugammadex patent, holding that the district court had correctly calculated PTE based on the issue date of the original patent rather than the issue date of the reissued patent.[1]
Background
The case
In our previous articles, we reported that the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision on December 20, 2024 ordering Teva Pharmaceuticals (“Teva”) to delist certain patents related to Teva’s ProAir® HFA metered-dose inhaler from the FDA’s Orange Book, and that the Federal Circuit subsequently stayed that delisting order on January 22, 2025 following a
The U.S. stands at a crossroads in light of rising drug prices and it is unclear what the future will hold in answer to the rising drug costs. Biologic medicines have rapidly expanded available treatment options and accounted for approximately half of U.S. healthcare medicine spending in the past few years. While biosimilars have offered
Biosimilars, once a niche segment in the pharmaceutical industry, are now making a significant impact on global healthcare. These products are highly similar to an already-approved reference product, offering a more affordable
Since the America Invents Act (“AIA”) established a new venue for hearing patent disputes, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), much ink has been spilled regarding the impacts of this forum on patent litigation and the overall intellectual property strategies employed by both patentees and challengers. The Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership
On December 20, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a significant ruling in the Teva v. Amneal case following oral arguments before the Federal Circuit, which we discussed in our previous article. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision that Teva’s patents were improperly listed and must be
As a firm responsible for managing global portfolios for pharmaceutical companies, we closely follow and seek to stay abreast of developments regarding patentability in various jurisdictions. Thus, we reviewed the UPC’s first decision and provide a summary of the first revocation of a European patent by the new Unified Patent Court (UPC).
Please note that