The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a prior ruling by the US District Court for the District of Delaware that the Eli Lilly and Company's compound patent for Alimta (pemetrexed) is valid. The compound patent provides protection for Alimta in the US through January of 2017.

"We are pleased with  ruling from the Court of Appeals affirming the validity of the compound patent for Alimta," said Robert A. Armitage, senior vice president and general counsel for Lilly. "By affirming the district court ruling, we believe that the Court fairly applied long-standing patent law principles. Protection of intellectual property rights is extremely important to the biopharmaceutical industry and the physicians and patients we serve, as these rights help support the development of the next generation of innovative medicines to treat unmet medical needs."

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations.