Court Says No to Actavis Plan to Thwart Namenda Generics

May 28, 2015

A U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a December decision declaring that Ireland-based Actavis must keep Namenda, it's dementia drug, on the market.

In an attempt to preserve sales as generic versions of Namenda (memantine) are introduced, Actavis had planned to switch patients to Namenda XR, a higher dose, once-daily formulation of the original drug. Actavis wanted to discontinue selling Namenda, in order to force the process.

In a press statement, Actavis CEO Brent Saunders noted the company's disappointment in the court ruling but said that patient demand for the new extended release drug is "currently trending at more than 50 percent of the total product line's days of therapy and growing, underscoring the strong physician, patient and caregiver demand for our once-daily product."

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