On Thursday, September 26, 2012, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) (plaintiff) recorded a suit against Sandoz (defendant) for patent infringement (case no. 2:12-cv-06077) in the U.S. Court of New Jersey.

Merck is a company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets innovative products to improve human and animal health, directly and through its joint ventures. Sandoz is a company that develops, manufactures and markets generic drugs as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological active ingredients.

The patents involved in this suit are currently assigned to MSD and are listed below:

According the complaint, plaintiff is the current holder of New Drug Application (NDA) no. 21-445 for Zetia® (source: MaxVal’s Patent Marker) that was approved by FDA on 25 October 2002. Zetia® reduces the amount of cholesterol in human body. Zetia is used to treat high cholesterol, along with a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. It is also used to treat high blood sitosterol and campesterol along with diet therapy. Below is the picture of the drug Zetia:

The suit alleges that the defendant with the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) no. 203-931 seeks FDA approval to market a generic version of Zetia®, which infringes the above patents.

MSD has filed suits against other companies as listed below:

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