By Anna Prior
Medicines Co. (MDCO) received an unfavorable claim construction
ruling from a Delaware district court Thursday as part of a patent
lawsuit over proposed generic versions of the drug maker's
blood-thinning drug Angiomax.
Shares fell 6.7% to $31.75 in recent trading as the court agreed
with several construction claims made by the defendant, listed on
the ruling as Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. et al., a
consolidation of several filers including Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries Ltd. (TEVA, TEVA.TV), App Pharmaceuticals LLC and
Hospira Inc. (HSP).
A claim construction ruling is used to determine definitions of
disputed technical terms in a lawsuit, and the final ruling
involving those terms is often considered a critical piece of any
patent case.
The company settled with Teva and App in recent years, and the
case with Hospira is still ongoing.
A representative for Medicines said the company doesn't comment
on ongoing litigation.
While Thursday's ruling wasn't a definitive outlook on
Angiomax's patents, it "does create uncertainty over whether or not
the Angiomax patent and exclusivity can prevail until 2019 or if
they could be broken in 2015," said RBC Capital Markets analyst
Adnan Butt in a note to clients.
The stock is up 33% since the start of the year.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@dowjones.com
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