Purdue Pharm blocked generic Oxycontin

Purdue Pharma can enforce its patent on the painkiller OxyContin to block generic competition from companies including KV Pharmaceutical Co., a U.S. judge has ruled.U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in New York rejected claims by KV, Covidien Ltd.'s Mallinckrodt and Novator's Actavis Totowa that the patent was unenforceable because Purdue withheld key information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.There is "scant evidence that Purdue intended to deceive the [patent office,]" Stein said in an opinion issued Monday. The company's errors in providing the information were either of "low materiality" or "made in good faith," the judge said."We always have maintained that our patents relating to OxyContin were properly issued and are therefore enforceable," said Tim Bannon, a spokesman for Stamford-based Purdue. "We are gratified that the court has agreed with us."Still pending are issues of whether the patent is valid and infringed. In 2005, Stein ruled it wasn't, and generic-drug companies including Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. began selling copycat versions. A U.S. appeals court sent the case back for review in 2006."We are disappointed in the district court's ruling, but this is not the end of the lawsuit," Covidien spokesman Eric Kraus said. "This is ongoing litigation."Covidien, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, is the medical supplies maker spun off from Tyco International Ltd.