Wyeth Will Pursue Claim for Damages Resulting From Teva Pharmaceuticals' Launch of Generic Pantoprazole in Violation of PROTO...( COLLEGEVILLE Pa. Dec. 24 /- Wyeth...)

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., Dec. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), today announced it will pursue a patent infringement claim for lost profits and other damages against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. resulting from Teva's launch of a pantoprazole tablet -- a generic version of Wyeth's PROTONIX(R).

"Teva has not disputed that its product infringes the United States PROTONIX compound patent exclusively licensed to Wyeth by Altana, recently acquired by Nycomed," says Lawrence V. Stein, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Wyeth. "We believe our patent is valid and enforceable and that Teva will be required to compensate Wyeth for the substantial damages caused by Teva's violation of our patent rights."

On September 6, 2007 the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Wyeth and Altana's motion for a preliminary injunction against the launch of a generic pantoprazole tablet by Teva and Sun Pharmaceuticals prior to resolution of a pending patent infringement proceeding. Although Teva and Sun did not dispute that such a launch would infringe the PROTONIX patent, the court found that the defendants had raised sufficient questions about the validity of the patent to preclude the issuance of the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction. The court did not conclude that the patent was invalid and emphasized that its findings were preliminary. The court stated that at trial, the generic companies would face the higher burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that the patent is not valid. At trial, Wyeth will seek to recover its lost profits and other damages resulting from Teva's infringing sales and a permanent injunction against future sale
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