The US Supreme Court has brought to an end Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's attempt to revive patent protection for its Baraclude treatment for hepatitis B (HBV). The high court declined to hear Bristol-Myers' challenge to an appeals court ruling in favour of generic rival Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, which had successfully challenged the patent.
In a June 2014 ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a federal district court's finding that the patent was invalid. Teva announced last September that it was launching its generic version of the drug.
Meanwhile, The Independent reports that a drug for treating hepatitis B patients could be mass produced at a cost of only £24 per person per year according to a new piece of research from the University of Liverpool.
[link url="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/04/us-usa-court-hepatitis-idUSKBN0NP18Z20150504"]Full Reuters Health report[/link][link url="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/global-hepatitis-b-epidemic-could-be-treated-at-an-annual-cost-of-24-per-person-10205377.html"]Full The Independent report[/link]