Appeals Court to Re-Hear Teva ‘Skinny Label’ Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the nation’s highest patent court, has agreed to reconsider a 10/2020 ruling that Teva says would enable innovator drug companies to block low-cost generic competition. Bloomberg Law reports an appeals court panel voted 2-1 to reopen a $235 million patent infringement verdict awarded GlaxoSmithKline by a federal district court jury over Teva’s sales of a generic version of the heart drug Coreg.

Bloomberg says the dispute is over the so-called “skinny labels” used by generic drug makers when they are selling a copy of a branded drug for only limited uses.

The jury had held that notwithstanding a Teva label that excluded Glaxo’s patented treatment for congestive heart failure, Teva was responsible for inducing doctors to prescribe the drug for that purpose.

Consumer groups and other generic drug makers had urged the appeals court to reconsider the decision, saying it would undermine efforts to lower drug costs.