Patent on Alendronate revoked in Belgium

Teva Pharma announced that the Court of First Instance in Brussels, Belgium, decided to revoke the Belgium part of Merck Sharp & Dohme's ("MSD") EP1175904 (which covers A method for inhibiting bone resorption in a mammal, said method comprising orally administering to said mammal a pharmaceutically effective amount of a bisphosphonate as a unit dosage according to a continuous schedule having a dosing interval selected from the group consisting of once-weekly dosing, twice-weekly dosing, biweekly dosing, and twice-monthly dosing), due to lack of inventive step. This patent relates to Fosamax® Once Weekly (Alendronate 70mg Once Weekly). This favorable decision follows a similar judgment rendered by the Hague District Court in the Netherlands regarding the same patent two months ago. The decision may be appealed. Teva's Alendronate products are subject to multiple European litigations between MSD, Teva and other parties, relating to both Alendronate 10mg and Alendronate 70mg. This patent is currently being litigated by Teva in France, Italy, Sweden and Spain as well as in the European Patent Office. Teva is already marketing Alendronate 10mg and 70mg in various European countries and may market Alendronate 70 mg in Belgium starting April 15, 2008. Earlier the same patent was invalidted by courts in Netherlands and France.