Orion, Sun in patent fight over Stalevo

HELSINKI, Finland Orion has extended a patent suit against Sun Pharmaceuticals, which is challenging the company on its Parkinson’s disease treatment drug Stalevo, according to published reports.

Orion is already suing Sun to prevent it from making a generic version of the drug, which is generically called carbidopa/levodopa. Sun has now amended its application to contain Paragraph IV challenges against three of Orion’s patents covering Stalevo.

The challenges mean Sun is either claiming Orion’s patents are invalid or that it would not be infringing on Orion’s patent rights by making a generic version.

Orion, which is evaluating its legal options together with Novartis, the company which exclusively markets Stalevo in the, said the application review process has only just begun and that generic competition is ‘neither certain nor imminent’.