On July 17, 2019, a district court judge ruled in favor of Finnegan client Bausch Health Companies, upholding its patent covering Relistor®, a drug used for opioid-induced constipation. The ruling also states that Actavis’ generic version of the drug infringes the patent. In December 2016, Bausch sued Actavis after Actavis sought regulatory approval for a generic version of Relistor®, despite the fact that the patent for Relistor® doesn’t expire until March 2031. Actavis argued that MTNX—one of the ingredients found in the patented formula—had poor permeability and adding SLS—another ingredient in the patented formula—is an obvious fix. However, the judge disagreed and wrote, “The prior art cited by Actavis disclosed a wide array of options for a [person of skill in the art] faced with the purported permeability problem, with no reason to pick out SLS, which appears to be just one whitecap in a sea of choices.”
