Merck has issued a statement saying that the company “firmly believes its patent for Nasonex nasal spray is valid and infringed and will vigorously defend its intellectual property rights in a bench trial against Apotex Inc. and Apotex Corp. that began in US federal court today.”
Merck is suing Apotex for infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,127,353, issued to Schering in 1998, which covers “Mometasone Furoate Monohydrate, Process for Making Same and Pharmaceutical Compositions” and is scheduled to expire in 2018. Schering merged with Merck in 2009; mometasone furoate is the active ingredient in Nasonex al spray. Apotex filed an ANDA for a mometasone nasal spray in 2009.
