Bayer Withdraws Patent Suit Against Teva

Bayer withdrew its patent lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for allegedly infringing Bayer's Yaz contraceptive with its Gianvi generic, but said it would continue to press its claims.

The German drugmaker said in a Monday filing in Delaware District Court it was dropping its lawsuit, which also named Teva subsidiary Barr Laboratories as a defendant. However, Bayer said in a statement it plans to continue to pursue its patent infringement case against Teva's generic version of Yaz, in Nevada District Court.

"Bayer is committed to vigorously enforcing its intellectual property and continues to pursue its patent infringement case filed earlier against Teva in Nevada," Bayer said in a statement.

The complaint in Delaware District Court was filed on June 1, and had asked the court for an injunction to prevent Teva, the world's largest maker of generic drugs, from selling its generic version of Yaz, or Gianvi. On June 7, Bayer filed a similar complaint in Nevada, where it had already brought complaints against Watson Laboratories and Sandoz. Sandoz is a unit of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG.

Bayer had said in court papers that Nevada was the appropriate venue because it "will eliminate the risk of inconsistent adjudications." Two weeks ago, Bayer said Teva's U.S. business admitted in court that some of the information included on Gianvi packages was false and agreed to correct its labeling. Teva declined to comment.

The Delaware case is Bayer Schering Pharma AG and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc v Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, Barr Pharmaceuticals LLC and Barr Laboratories Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 10-cv-00474. The Nevada case is Bayer Schering Pharma AG and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc v Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, Barr Pharmaceuticals LLC and Barr Laboratories Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Nevada, No. 10-cv-00872.