Court Victory for Pfizer
Pfizer
(PFE)
said a federal judge has denied a bid by Denmark's
Novo Nordisk
(NVO)
to halt sales of the inhaled insulin Exubera.
Novo Nordisk, which is working on its own inhaled insulin,
sued Pfizer in August for patent infringement. On Thursday, a judge in New York rejected Novo Nordisk's request for a preliminary injunction until the patent suit is resolved. A Pfizer spokesman said a trial date hasn't been set.
Pfizer developed Exubera with
TheStreet Recommends
Nektar Therapeutics
(NKTR)
.
Approved by the FDA in January, Exubera, a dry powder form of insulin, has been
reaching markets slowly since July.
Pfizer says a full-scale launch of the drug to primary care physicians will begin in January.
Novo Nordisk is working on AERx, an inhaled form of liquid insulin, using technology developed by
Aradigm
undefined
. Analysts say it will still take about four years for this product to be available.
