AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP has launched separate patent infringement actions against nine rival drugmakers—including Apotex Corp., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.—seeking to block their attempts to release a generic version of blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor®. The complaints accuse the nine companies of infringing patents in their submission of abbreviated new drug applications to the U.S. FDA. The plaintiffs (AstraZeneca and IPR Pharmaceuticals Inc.) seek a judgment that their patents are valid, enforceable, and infringed by each defendant, as well as orders stipulating that the effective date of any FDA approval of the generic tablets should not be earlier than the expiration dates of the asserted patents and enjoining the defendants from selling the drug prior to this date. AstraZeneca is represented in this matter by Finnegan.