QLT says it plans to appeal court's decision in Eligard patent case against TAP

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Jan. 23 - QLT Inc. said late Friday that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division issued a ruling denying the company's defense that plaintiff TAP pharmaceutical Products, Inc.'s 721 patent is unenforceable due to inequitable conduct by the patentees before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

QLT USA and Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc., a member of the sanofi-aventis group, said they intend to appeal both the jury verdict and the trial court's decision on inequitable conduct to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, according to a company news release.

The litigation began in 2003 when TAP sued QLT and Sanofi-Synthelabo, alleging QLT's Eligard product infringes TAP's patent, U.S. 4,728,721, which expires May 1, officials said.

QLT said it had raised separate defenses of invalidity and unenforceability of the 721 patent in response to TAP and its co-plaintiff's allegations of infringement.

In December, a Chicago jury returned a verdict that upheld the validity of the patent.

To date, there has been no trial or pretrial discovery concerning the issue of potential damages if QLT were not ultimately successful on appeal. In addition, a potential injunction has not been considered by the court, officials said.

sanofi-aventis is a Paris-based pharmaceutical company.

TAP is a Lake Forest, Ill., pharmaceutical company.

QLT is a Vancouver, B.C., biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing treatments for eye diseases and dermatological and urological conditions.

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