Celgene sues Barr over cancer drug

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The biotech Celgene has filed suit against the generic drugmaker Barr Pharmaceuticals, for alleging violating its patient for the cancer drug Thalomid, the companies said.

Celgene (down $0.23 to $53.94, Charts) filed suit against Barr (up $0.32 to $55.84, Charts) in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, where both of the companies are based, on Tuesday. Barr filed a submission with the Food and Drug Administration in December to produce a generic version of Thalomid to treat leprosy.

Celgene produces and markets Thalomid as a treatment for myeloma, a form of blood cancer that kills 12,000 Americans per year. The drug is also used to treat leprosy. Some analysts expect the drug to achieve billion-dollar blockbuster status, but full-year sales for 2006 have yet to be released.

Thalomid is a brand name based on the chemical compound thalidomide, the pregnancy painkiller that was blamed for horrible birth defects in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s. Because of that, the FDA has a very strict warning label involving the use of Thalomid in women.

The chemical compound is not covered by any patents, because they expired decades ago. But Celgene has protected Thalomid with multiple patents involving safety in the way it is distributed, said company spokesman Brian Gill.

Barr said, in a press release, that it's application to the FDA claims "that the patents protecting Thalomid from generic competition are invalid, unenforceable or not infringed by Barr's product."

The worldwide market leader in the generic drug industry is Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals (up $0.27 to $34.96, Charts), and the U.S. market leader is Abbot Laboratories (up $0.06 to $53.38, Charts). Amgen (Charts) is the world's biggest biotech in terms of sales, and Genentech (down $1.17 to $87.68, Charts) is No. 2.

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