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INDIA
BUSINESS WORLD -
OCTOBER 2005
THE MONTH THAT WAS
RANBAXY SUES BARR, TEVA OVER ALLEGRA
Ranbaxy Laboratories said it has sued rival generic drug
makers Barr Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceutical in a dispute
over generic versions of the popular allergy medicine Allegra.
India's Ranbaxy
and its partner in the suit, privately held Agvar Chemicals
Inc., charge they were blindsided by a deal Barr made with
Teva that effectively cut them out as suppliers of fexofenadine
hydrochloride, the active ingredient for manufacturing generic
Allegra tablets.
Ranbaxy and Agvar
are seeking damages and equitable relief for what they charge
was breach of contract, fraud and interference associated
with the supply of active ingredients regarding the sale of
fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets in the United States. The
suit was filed in New Jersey Superior Court.
"We operated in good faith over a period of five years,
lending technical expertise to Barr in the development of
the fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets, and investing heavily
in facilities to meet the demands of Barr, only to be surprised
by an undisclosed relationship between Barr and Teva,"
Jay Deshmukh, Ranbaxy's vice president of global intellectual
property, said in a statement. Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox
said based on Barr's arrangement with Ranbaxy and Agvar, the
company considers the suit to be "without merit and frivolous
and we intend to defend ourselves." She added that Barr,
based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, had not yet seen the
actual suit. Barr in August received US regulatory approval
to market generic Allegra, receiving 180 days of marketing
exclusivity. A week later, Barr announced a deal with Israel's
Teva to allow it to sell the drug during Barr's exclusivity
period. That arrangement included the use of a different supplier
of the active ingredient, rather than Ranbaxy and Agvar, the
complaining companies said.
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