PTAB Rejects Flawed Inherency Argument Against Drug Composition Patent

On February 3, 2017, the PTAB denied a petition by Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC ("Amneal") to institute an inter partes review of Hospira Inc.'s patent directed to pharmaceutical compositions of the sedative dexmedetomidine. The patent's only independent claim recites:

In its petition, Amneal relied in large part on the 2010 drug label for FDA approved Precedex, which is a concentrated dexmedetomidine solution that must be diluted in 0.9% sodium chloride prior to administration. Amneal argued that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have diluted Precedex according