S. Korean drugmaker wins patent dispute over anti-cancer agent

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- A leading South Korean pharmaceutical company said Wednesday that it won a patent dispute with a multinational drug producer, a victory that could spur local production of anti-cancer drugs.
The Korea Intellectual Property Tribunal said that while Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis developed the anti-cancer drug agent in question, the original patent for the tumor-fighting drug expired in June 2010. If Sanofi-Aventis wants another patent, it must show that the new compound used to make the drug has greatly improved its properties compared to its predecessor, the tribunal said.
"The decision will help end the so-called ever-greening tactics used by some multinational drug companies to slightly alter the chemical composition of agents used to make drugs so they can get new patent protection," an executive from the Korean firm involved, Boryung Co., said.
The decision settled a two-year patent dispute between Boryung and Sanofi-Aventis over the anti-cancer agent docetaxel tri-hydrate. The verdict is expected to open the way for companies to freely make anti-cancer drugs similar to Sanofi-Aventis' Taxotere, used mainly to treat breast, prostate and some types of lung cancer
The Boryung official added that the ruling could help the outcome of the ongoing court battle over the same substance being waged by seven local pharmaceutical companies and Sanofi-Aventis.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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