Dublin-based pharmaceuticals company Allergan PLC (NYSE:AGN) is to appeal against a US District Court decision concerning patent claims over RESTASIS eye drops.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an adverse trial decision finding that the four asserted patents covering RESTASIS are invalid.
Allergan had attempted to protect the patents by transferring them to a Native American tribe and then leasing them back, but if it loses the appeal against the court's decision then it will open the door to generic versions of RESTASIS, which is the company's second biggest selling product line after Botox.
To date, none of the proposed generic versions of RESTASIS have received approval and none of these products would be able to launch in the market.
"We are disappointed by the Federal District Court's decision on the RESTASIS patents. We are carefully reviewing the decision and are considering all options," said Robert Bailey, chief legal officer at Allergan.
"Allergan remains committed to vigorously defending the intellectual property of our products, which allows us to continue to invest in developing and bringing forward new medicines for millions of patients," he added.