The Medicines Company announced that the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order in the company's lawsuit against the US Patent and Trademark Office (the PTO), the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Health and Human Services. The company's lawsuit is seeking to set aside the PTO's denial of the company's Hatch-Waxman application to extend the principal US patent covering Angiomax.

The Court ordered the PTO to take the actions necessary to ensure that the patent does not expire until at least 10 days after the Court issues an order deciding the case. The patent was set to expire on May 23.

The Medicines Company is focused on advancing the treatment of critical care patients through the delivery of innovative, cost-effective medicines to the worldwide hospital marketplace.