By Sherri Oslick —

About
Court Report:  Each week we will report briefly on recently filed
biotech and pharma cases, and a few interesting cases will be selected
for periodic monitoring.

StemCells, Inc. et al. v. Neuralstem, Inc. et al.
4:08-cv-02364; filed May 7, 2008 in the Northern District of California

Infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 7,115,418 ("Methods of Proliferating Undifferentiated Neural Cells," issued October 3, 2006) and 7,361,505 ("Multipotent Neural Stem Cell Compositions," issued April 22, 2008).  View the (amended) complaint here.

Neuralstem, Inc. v. StemCells, Inc. et al.
8:08-cv-01173; filed May 7, 2008 in the District Court of Maryland

Declaratory judgment of non-infringement, unenforceabilty and/or invalidity of U.S. Patent No. 7,361,505 ("Multipotent Neural Stem Cell Compositions," issued April 22, 2008) in conjunction with Neuralstem’s use of neural stem cell technology to treat diseases of the central nervous system.  View the complaint here.

Ivax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Astrazeneca AB et al.
3:08-cv-02165; filed April 30, 2008 in the District Court of New Jersey

Declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,690,960 ("Pharmaceutical Formulation of Omeprazole," issued November 25, 1997), 5,900,424 ("Omeprazole Magnesium Salt Form," issued May 4, 1999), 6,147,103 ("Omeprazole Process and Compositions Thereof," issued November 14, 2000), 6,166,213 (same title, issued December 26, 2000), and 6,191,148 (same title, issued February 20, 2001) in conjunction with Ivax’s filing of an ANDA to manufacture a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Nexium® (esomeprazole magnesium, used for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease).  View the complaint here.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC et al. v. APP Pharmaceuticals LLC et al.
3:08-cv-02019; filed April 22, 2008 in the District Court of New Jersey

Infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,338,874 ("Cis oxalato (trans 1-1,2-cyclohexanediamine) PT(II) Having Optically High Purity," issued August 16, 1994), 5,420,319 ("Cis-oxalato(trans-1-1,2-cyclohexanediamine) Pt(II) Complex Having High Optical Purity and Process of Preparing Same," issued May 30, 1995), 5,716,988 ("Pharmaceutically Stable Preparation of Oxaliplatinum," issued February 10, 1998), and 5,290,961 ("Platinum Compound and Process of Preparing Same," issued March 1, 1994), based on APP’s filing of a DMF (drug master file) with the FDA for the manufacture of Eloxatin® (oxaliplatin for injection, used to treat colorectal cancer).  View the complaint here.