Sepracor Inc announced that the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) of the US Patent and Trademark Office has combined three patent interferences into a single interference between Sepracor and Wyeth and set a date for oral arguments. The interference seeks to determine the priority of inventorship of claims directed to racemic O-desmethylvenlafaxine (ODMV) succinate. Wyeth markets racemic ODMV succinate in the US under the brand name Pristiq for the treatment of major depressive disorder in adults.

The interference is between Wyeth's US patents 6,673,838 and 7,291,347, the two patents listed in the FDA's publication entitled Approved Drug Products With Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly referred to as the 'Orange Book', for Pristiq, and three of Sepracor's pending US patent applications, 10/720,134, 11/091,518 and 12/011,083. The earliest application filing date asserted by Sepracor (April 6, 1999) is approximately 22 months earlier than the earliest application filing date asserted by Wyeth for its claims (February 12, 2001). The BPAI has set January 6, 2010 for oral arguments in this interference.

Should Sepracor prevail with respect to a claim in the interference, Sepracor could obtain patent rights that would be infringed by Wyeth's sale of Pristiq.

Sepracor is a research-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating and preventing human disease by discovering, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products that are directed toward serving large and growing markets and unmet medical needs.