The UK Supreme Court recently heard the latest
instalment of an ongoing battle over the blockbuster drug
pregabalin (Warner-Lambert v Actavis).
Background
The case concerns the validity and infringement of
Warner-Lambert’s (Pfizer) second medical use patent directed
to the drug pregabalin for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The
basic patent for the drug expired in 2014.
Pregabalin is marketed by Pfizer under the name Lyrica® for
the treatment of various indications such as neuropathic pain,
general anxiety disorder (GAD) and epilepsy. Actavis sells a
generic pregabalin product under the name Lecaent®.
The patent claims are in the old “Swiss-type”
format, i.e. “the use of substance X for the manufacture of a
medicament to treat disease Y”. This type of claim is no
longer accepted by the UKIPO. However, there are many granted
patents that have Swiss-type claims for which this case will be
applicable.
