23 January 2018 - - The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued a final written decision in New York, New York-based generic drug company Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC's inter partes review against the sole unexpired patent listed as covering Janssen Oncology, Inc.'s Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) drug in the Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book, the company said.
Janssen Oncology, Inc. is a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson.
Argentum challenged all claims (claims 1−20) of Janssen's US Patent No. 8,822,438, which the Orange Book states will expire in August 24, 2027.
In its decision, the PTO concluded that Argentum "satisfied its burden of demonstrating, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the subject matter of claims 1–20 would have been obvious," and therefore ordered "that claims 1-20 are held unpatentable."
Argentum has core competencies in intellectual property and pharmaceutical operations.
By working with branded and generic pharmaceutical companies and healthcare payors, the company plans to reduce the overall cost of prescription drugs by challenging patents that are not innovative and which artificially support high drug prices.