--- title: "Viatris generic hypertension drug does not violate J&J patents, US court says" description: "Viatris, a generic drugmaker, has won a court case against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over its proposed generic version of J&J's cardiovascular drug Veletri. The court ruled that Viatris' generic would n" type: "news" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/110070650.md" published_at: "2024-03-15T20:45:20.000Z" --- # Viatris generic hypertension drug does not violate J&J patents, US court says > Viatris, a generic drugmaker, has won a court case against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over its proposed generic version of J&J's cardiovascular drug Veletri. The court ruled that Viatris' generic would not infringe J&J's patents, clearing the way for its release. J&J had filed the lawsuit in 2020 after Viatris applied to make a generic version of Veletri. The ruling follows a U.S. appeals court's decision to revive the case last year. J&J and Viatris have not yet commented on the decision. J&J sued over Viatris generic of cardiovascular drug Veletri Viatris defeats infringement allegations after appeals court revived case By Blake Brittain March 15 (Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Viatris (VTRS.O) has convinced a federal judge in West Virginia that its proposed generic version of a Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) unit’s cardiovascular drug Veletri would not infringe J&J’s patents, according to a decision made public on Friday. U.S. District Judge John Bailey agreed with Viatris’ Mylan Pharmaceuticals that its generic of Veletri would not include a patented element of the name-brand drug made by J&J subsidiary Actelion Pharmaceuticals, clearing a hurdle for the release of Viatris’ proposed drug. The ruling follows a U.S. appeals court’s decision to revive the case last year after finding that Bailey may have misinterpreted key parts of J&J’s patents. Representatives for J&J and Viatris did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. Actelion’s hypertension drug Veletri was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010. J&J acquired Switzerland-based Actelion in 2017 for $30 billion. J&J filed the lawsuit in 2020 after Viatris applied to make a generic version of Veletri. The companies agreed to a final judgment for J&J in 2022 after Bailey found that the solution of the active ingredient in Viatris’ generic, like J&J’s patented solution, had a pH of 13 or higher. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reinstated the case last year after finding that Bailey should have considered outside evidence to determine whether “13” meant a range between 12.5 and 13.4, like J&J proposed, or 13 more precisely, as Viatris argued. On remand, Bailey agreed with Viatris that its generic would not have a pH of 13 or higher and did not infringe J&J’s patents. Bailey also said that J&J’s proposed interpretation of its patents would render them invalid. The case is Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, No. 1:20-cv-00110. For J&J: Jason Sheasby and Lisa Glasser of Irell & Manella For Viatris: Deepro Mukerjee, Lance Soderstrom and Jitty Malik of Katten Muchin Rosenman Read more: Viatris US court win reopens path to generic of J&J hypertension drug ### Related Stocks - [VTRS.US - Viatris](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/VTRS.US.md) - [JNJ.US - Johnson & Johnson](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JNJ.US.md) - [600662.CN - SHANGHAI FOREIGN SERVICE HOLDING](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/600662.CN.md) ## Related News & Research | Title | Description | URL | |-------|-------------|-----| | Johnson & Johnson explores $20 billion sale of an orthopedics unit, Bloomberg News reports | Feb 19 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnsonis preparing a potential sale of the orthopedics unit that it has been planning to s | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276370994.md) | | Johnson & Johnson Announces New Long-Term Data from the Quasar Long-Term Extension Study | Johnson & Johnson announced new long-term data from the QUASAR study, showing that TREMFYA® (guselkumab) sustained clini | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276518257.md) | | BUZZ-Johnson & Johnson rises on planned $1 billion investment in Pennslyvania | Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) rose 0.3% to $244.40 following the announcement of a planned investment exceeding $1 b | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276261089.md) | | FDA untitled letter lambastes claims in ad for J&J’s Tremfya | The FDA has issued an untitled letter to Johnson & Johnson regarding misleading claims in advertisements for Tremfya, a | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276359346.md) | | 14,822 Shares in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. $ALSN Acquired by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. | Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired 14,822 shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. 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