Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said two courts, Hague District Court in the Netherlands and Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, decided to revoke Merck Sharp & Dohme's European patent on generic Fosamax for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Teva is already marketing Alendronate 10mg and 70mg in various European countries.

The Netherlands court, on Feb. 13, decided to revoke the Dutch part of Merck's European patent for Fosamax once weekly. This decision is the first European court decision on the merits of this patent, which is currently being litigated by Teva in Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden and Spain as well as in the European Patent Office.

On Feb. 15, the French court decided Merck's patent covering the use of alendronate for the treatment of certain conditions was invalid, Teva said. The French court declared that MSD Somerset's supplementary protection certificate SPC 96C0032 covering the use of Alendronate for the treatment of Urolithiase and Bone Resorption was invalid for lack of inventive step

Both decisions may be appealed. Teva's Alendronate products are a subject to multiple European litigations between MSD, Teva and other parties, relating to both Alendronate 10mg and Alendronate 70mg.