Lupin settles dispute with Forest Labs over Namenda

Drug firm Lupin says it has settled all litigations relating to memantine tablets, the generic version of US-based Forest Laboratories' Alzheimer drug 'Namenda'.

"As per the terms of the settlement, Lupin will be licensed under the relevant patents and would be free to commercially launch its generic product in January 2015, or earlier in certain circumstances," Lupin said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. It did not disclose details of the agreement.

Lupin had earlier filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) with the US health regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing the generic version of Namenda.

The application was filed under the Paragraph IV certification contesting that the patent was invalid or had not been infringed, which if accepted would give a 180 exclusivity period to the Indian firm for marketing the drug in the US, and the move result in the subsequent litigation with Forest Labs.

Namenda tablets sales were worth around $1 billion in the US, and accounted for 26 per cent of Forest Labs' net revenue last year.

"The settlement with Forest is in line with us prudently managing our litigation pipeline and creating value for the company," Lupin group president Nilesh Gupta said in the statement.