Patent Law

Seroquel and diabetes?

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

Attorneys for drug maker AstraZeneca are challenging the findings of medical experts who claim the company's anti-psychotic drug Seroquel causes diabetes.

A Delaware judge began three days of hearings today to determine whether to allow testimony from three doctors in a case brought by a Kansas woman who claims that Seroquel caused her to develop diabetes.

A blog had noted earlier:

Big Seroquel news this morning: Court documents suggest AstraZeneca told U.S. sales reps to say the antipsychotic drug didn?t cause diabetes, even though a company doctor had previously said that the drug could be linked to the disease in some patients.

The company says the doctor?s view was preliminary, and that more thorough analysis suggested the drug didn?t cause diabetes.

The blog also noted something about patents-->

The FDA isn?t ready to approve the company?s request to market Seroquel XR, the extended release version of the drug, for generalized anxiety disorder, AstraZeneca said.The XR version has already been approved to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Drug companies often go for approvals for extended-release versions of drugs as a way to extend the life of a brand after the patent runs out on the regular version. The patent on Seroquel runs out in 2011; Seroquel XR could have patent protection until 2017.

Full post as published by IPBiz on March 11, 2009 (boomark / email).