Federal court clears way for Watson, Amphastar to launch generic version of Lovenox

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — A federal court has stopped an injunction that would have prevented drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals and partner company Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from marketing or selling a generic version of a blood-thinning drug.

The companies announced Thursday that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has granted them a stay of the preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in October, which Sandoz had sought to prevent Watson and Amphastar from launching a generic version of Sanofi's Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium). Watson and Amphastar said they plan to launch the drug immediately.

Sandoz, the generics arm of Swiss drug maker Novartis, already markets a generic version of the drug, for which it received Food and Drug Administration approval in July 2010.

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