Sanofi-aventis (Paris) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (New York) announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the August 31, 2006 preliminary injunction issued by the United States district court for the southern district of New York.
The injunction ordered Apotex to halt its sales of a generic version of clopidogrel bisulfate that competes with PLAVIX pending the district court's decision in the trial on the merits. As a result of the decision of the court of appeals, the preliminary injunction remains in place.
The companies believe that the Apotex generic product infringes their intellectual property rights, which they continue to vigorously defend in the pending patent litigation. Trial on the merits is currently scheduled to begin on January 22, 2007.