Lundbeck Canada wins patent case before the Federal Court of Appeal

On November 25, 2010, in a major victory for Lundbeck Canada Inc., the Federal Court of Appeal, issued a judgment that dismissed appeals by the Canadian arms of multinational generic drug makers Genpharm ULC, Apotex Inc. and Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc. of a Federal Court of Canada judgment prohibiting them from marketing and selling their generic versions of Lundbeck's patented drug escitalopharm until the patent expires in 2014. The three cases, which dealt with complex scientific and legal notions, were conducted in parallel over a period of almost four years and involved numerous hearings throughout Canada in the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. They called upon the testimony of many expert witnesses located all over the world familiar with chemistry, psychiatry, pharmacology and economics. H. Lundbeck A/S and Lundbeck Canada were advised in these proceedings by a team from Fasken Martineau that included Marie Lafleur, Julie Desrosiers, Hilal El Ayoubi and Christian Leblanc and by a team from Goudreau Gage Dubuc SENCRL that included Alain Leclerc and Isabelle Pelletier.