Dr. Reddy’s Sues Novartis Over Patent

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., which has applied to sell a low-cost version of the anti-fungal medicine Lamisil, filed court papers in New York seeking to invalidate a patent for Lamisil owned by Novartis.

Novartis filed suit in July against Dr. Reddy’s, saying the generic-drug maker’s application before the Food and Drug Administration was a violation of a Novartis patent. Global sales of Lamisil reached $350 million in the first half of 2002.

Dr. Reddy’s claims the Novartis patent is invalid because the compound was disclosed more than a year before the patent application was filed.

Dr. Reddy’s is based in Hyderabad, India, with offices in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Novartis is based in Basel, Switzerland, with offices in East Hanover, N.J.