In an ongoing Para IV infringement litigation between the Wyeth (now part of Pfizer) and patent holder Nycomed against Indian drug major Sun Pharma and the Teva Pharmaceuticals USA over generic Protonix, an acid reflux drug, a jury in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey has returned a verdict that the main US patent for the product is not invalid.

According to reports, the Court determined that Nycomed's US Patent No 4,758,579 is not invalid, stressing that the findings were preliminary and the case proceeded to trial. “The jury has reserved decision on the issue of the effect to be given to the jury's determinations relating to the obviousness-type double patenting defenses, which as the company has argued, is to be decided by the Court,” said the Sun Pharma spokesperson.

Sun Pharma's pantoprazole sodium delayed release (DR) tablets are the AB-rated generic equivalent of Wyeth's Protonix DR tablets, the proton pump inhibitor anti-ulcerant for which the said companies are involved in patent infringement litigation, since May 2004.