Augmentin 2: Federal Trial Judge splits decision

March 1, 2002

GlaxoSmithKline  announced that a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled on a summary judgment motion filed by Teva Pharmaceuticals (Teva), relating to the validity of three of GSK’s in the United States covering its antibiotic product AUGMENTIN. In the summary judgment ruling, the court ruled in Teva’s favor that three GSK patents expiring in 2017 were invalid.

On December 14, 2001, the same judge ruled on two other GSK patents covering AUGMENTIN. The court ruled that a patent expiring in 2018 was invalid. However, on that same date, the court ruled that a patent expiring in December, 2002 was valid.

GlaxoSmithKline believes its patents covering AUGMENTIN are valid and expects to appeal these rulings. A decision on appeal would normally take twelve to eighteen months from the filing of the appeal.

GlaxoSmithKline — one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies — is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.