29 April 2010
BOXMEER (The Netherlands)
BOXMEER (Netherlands) and OSLO (Norway), April 29, 2010 – Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health announces today that the Oslo District Court has ruled that its Pancreatic Disease (PD) patent NO 317.547 is valid and infringed by Pharmaq AS.
A procedure, initiated in 2009 by the Norwegian pharmaceutical company Pharmaq AS against Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health before the Oslo District Court to either have declared patent NO 317.547 invalid or to obtain a decision of non-infringement of this patent, has been decided in favor of Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. The current ruling by the Oslo District Court confirms a previous decision by the Norwegian Patent Office from 2008 on the validity of the same patent which also has been decided in favor of Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health.
Pharmaq AS has also filed in 2009 a request for a compulsory license concerning the PD vaccine with the Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA). This request has been refused after which Pharmaq AS has appealed this decision. The outcome of this appeal is expected in the course of 2010.
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health’s NORVAX® Compact PD, an inactivated virus vaccine against Pancreatic Disease for intraperitoneal injection in Atlantic salmon, is the only approved vaccine against this devastating disease that is available on the market today. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health remains committed to the development of efficacious and safe vaccines of high quality against infectious disease in aquatic animals, supporting the fish farmers all over the world.
