Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CBST]]) plans to mount a lawsuit against Teva Parenteral Medicines after Teva made known that it plans to seek U.S. approval of a generic version of Cubist’s top-selling antibiotic daptomycin (Cubicin), Cubist announced this morning.
Lexington, MA-based Cubist says that Teva informed the company in a letter that it planned to gain approval of its daptomycin copy before two of Cubist’s patents on the drug expire in September 2019 and June 2016, telling Cubist that the patents are either invalid or not infringed. Cubist now has 45 days from receiving the letter to file a patent infringement lawsuit, which would block the FDA from approving Teva’s version of the drug for 30 months or until a district court rules that Cubist’s patents are invalid or not infringed upon by the Teva drug.
Daptomycin is key to Cubist’s current business. The injectable antibiotic, which is used to treat skin and blood stream infections caused by resistant bugs such as MRSA, brought the company $414.7 million of its $433.6 million in total revenue last year, according to the firm.
News of Teva’s bid to muscle in on Cubist’s daptomycin franchise had a chilling effect on Cubist’s stock price, which fell about 15 percent in pre-market trading from its close of $22.25 per share on Monday.
