The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has ruled that two Latisse eyelash drug patents owned by Allergan and Duke University are invalid, opening the door to generic versions.
The patents, set to expire in 2022 and 2024, cover ways to apply the chemical compound to promote eyelash growth. The recent ruling will allow Novartis’ Sandoz unit, Actavis and Apotex to sell copycat versions.
Allergan has repeatedly opposed Valeant's attempts at a takeover deal, claiming the offers substantially undervalue Allergan and citing Allergan’s strong prospects as a stand-alone company -- a claim that will not be helped by losing the predicted $110M in Latisse sales this year.
Read the Bloomberg story