IN RE SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedJuly 8, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-07791
StatusUnknown

This text of IN RE SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION (IN RE SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IN RE SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION, (D.N.J. 2025).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY IN RE: SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION Case No. 2:24-cv-07791 (BRM) (CLW)

OPINION

MARTINOTTI,DISTRICT JUDGE Before the Court is Plaintiff American Regent, Inc.’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion for a Preliminary Injunction against Defendants in this consolidated matter (the “Motion”) (ECF No. 85), each of

whom has filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application that Plaintiff alleges infringes on its Orange Book patents, U.S. Patent No. 11,998,565 (the “’565 Patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 12,150,957 (the “’957 Patent”).1 Having reviewed the parties’ submissions filed in connection with the Motion, having conducted a hearing on March 31, 2025 (ECF No. 163), and having considered the parties’ post-hearing submissions (ECF Nos. 170, 171, 200, 201), for the reasons set forth below and for good cause having been shown, Plaintiff’s Motion is GRANTED.

1 Pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, the Court originally consolidated thirteen suits filed by Plaintiff against different defendants into this action. (ECF No. 27.) As a result of new suits filed by Plaintiff that were later consolidated (ECF No. 54), consent judgments Plaintiff entered with some parties, and one instance of a party withdrawing its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ECF Nos. 95 at 1 n.1, 152, 160, 164, 165, 168), the following entities remain in the consolidated action and will be referred to collectively as “Defendants”: Aspiro Pharma LTD and Aspiro Pharma Ltd. (“Aspiro”); Cipla USA, Inc. et al. and Cipla USA, et al. (“Cipla”); RK Pharma, Inc. (“RK Pharma”); and Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited, et al. and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited, et al. (“Sun”). I. BACKGROUND A. Statutory Background “[T]he regulatory scheme that governs the testing and approval of new drugs in the United States” was established by the Hatch-Waxman Act (“Hatch-Waxman”), 21 U.S.C. § 355. In re Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litig. Indirect Purchaser Class, 868 F.3d 132, 143 (3d Cir. 2017). Under

Hatch-Waxman, a drug company can obtain Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval to market a drug in one of three ways. “First, a drug manufacturer[] wishing to market a new prescription drug[] must submit a New Drug Application” (“NDA”) to the FDA “and undergo a long, comprehensive, and costly testing process, after which, if successful, the manufacturer will receive marketing approval.” F.T.C. v. Actavis, Inc., 570 U.S. 136, 142 (2013) (citing 21 U.S.C. § 355(b)(1)). “In addition to extensive testing and safety information concerning the drug, the manufacturer must also submit the patent number and expiration date of any patent that claims the drug or a method of using the drug with respect to which a claim of patent infringement could reasonably be asserted.” Eisai Co. v. Mut. Pharm. Co., Civ. A. No. 06-3613, 2007 WL 4556958,

at*1 (D.N.J. Dec. 20, 2007) (citing U.S.C. § 355(b)(1)). If an applicant’s NDA is approved by the FDA, the patent information filed in connection with the NDA is published in the FDA’s publication known as the “Orange Book.” Id. Second, to further its goal of “increas[ing] competition between generic and brand-name drugs,” Hatch-Waxman “allows the manufacturers of generic drugs to obtain FDA approval without having to endure the gauntlet of procedures associated with NDAs.” In re Wellbutrin, 868 F.3d at 143. Generic manufacturers may file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) “specifying that the generic has the ‘same active ingredients as,’ and is ‘biologically equivalent’ to, the already-approved brand-name drug.” Actavis, 570 U.S. at 142 (quoting Caraco Pharm. Lab’ys, Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/S, 566 U.S. 399, 405 (2012)). An ANDA allows a generic manufacturer to “avoid[] the ‘costly and time-consuming studies’ needed to obtain approval ‘for a pioneer drug,’” thereby furthering competition. Id. (quoting Eli Lilly & Co. v. Medtronic, Inc., 496 U.S. 661, 676 (1990)). Third, a generic manufacturer may also submit a Section 505(b)(2) NDA, which “is

appropriate for a company seeking to modify another company’s brand-name drug.” F.T.C. v. AbbVie Inc., 976 F.3d 327, 339 (3d Cir. 2020); see also 21 C.F.R. § 314.54(a) (providing that examples of a brand-name drug modification may include “a new indication or new dosage form”). A Section 505(b)(2) NDA “is like an ANDA because the company need not produce all safety and efficacy data about the drug and because it must assure the FDA that its generic drug will not infringe the brand’s patents,” but differs “because the company must produce some data, including whatever ‘information [is] needed to support the modification(s).’” Id. (quoting 21 C.F.R. § 314.54(a)). “In addition to streamlining the drug approval process, the Hatch-Waxman Act provides

specialized procedures for brand-name and generic drug manufacturers to resolve intellectual property disputes.” In re Wellbutrin, 868 F.3d at 144. A brand-name manufacturer is required to list in its NDA “the ‘number and the expiration date’ of any relevant patent.” Actavis, 570 U.S. at 143 (quoting 21 U.S.C. § 355(b)(1)). Generic manufacturers, on the other hand, must certify their products will not infringe upon the brand-name’s patents, known as a “paragraph IV notice.” AbbVie, 976 F.3d at 339; see also 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(A)(vii)(IV) (certifying “that such patent is invalid or will not be infringed by the manufacture, use, or sale of the new drug for which the application is submitted”). After receiving a paragraph IV notice, a brand-name manufacturer has forty-five days to decide whether to sue the generic manufacturer for patent infringement. See 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(5)(B)(iii). Typically, if it decides to sue within forty-five days, the brand-name manufacturer “is rewarded with some breathing space before competition can begin: the FDA is required to withhold approval of the generic drug for 30 months or until the infringement case is resolved, whichever comes first.” In re Wellbutrin, 868 F.3d at 144 (citing 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(5)(B)(iii)).

B. Factual Background 1. Plaintiff’s Selenious Acid Injections Plaintiff is a pharmaceutical corporation with a principal place of business in New York State. (ECF No. 1 (Accord Healthcare, Inc. Compl.) ¶ 2.) Plaintiff has an NDA for “three unit forms of Selenious Acid Injection—(1) eq. 600 mcg Selenium/10 mL (eq. 60 mcg Selenium/mL); (2) eq. 60 mcg Selenium/mL (eq. 60 mcg Selenium/mL); and (3) eq. 12 mcg Selenium/2 mL (eq. 6 mcg Selenium/mL)” (the “Selenious Acid Injections”). (ECF No. 95 at 5–6.) The FDA approved this NDA—No. 209379—on April 30, 2019, and conferred it New Chemical Entity status, which guarantees “an initial five (5) years of market exclusivity following approval.” (Id. at 6, 8.)

However, the ’565 and ’957 Patents were issued later, on June 4, 2024, and November 26, 2024, respectively. See U.S. Patent No. 11,998,565 (filed Mar. 21, 2023) (“Pat. ’565”); U.S. Patent No. 12,150,957 (filed May 23, 2024) (“Pat. ’957”). The patents-in-suit are listed in the FDA’s Orange Book.

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IN RE SELENIOUS ACID LITIGATION, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-selenious-acid-litigation-njd-2025.