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Dr. Reddy's Will Have to Wait to Sell Suboxone Copy, Court Says

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. will have to wait a little longer before it can start selling a generic version of Suboxone.

Dr. Reddy's Will Have to Wait to Sell Suboxone Copy, Court Says
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. Omeprazole capsules are arranged for a photograph in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Adeel Halim/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. will have to wait a little longer before it can start selling a generic version of Indivior Plc’s Suboxone Film opioid addiction treatment, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The sales ban will remain in force to give Indivior time to challenge a Nov. 20 appeals court decision it lost. In that ruling, a split 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said a trial judge was wrong to block Dr. Reddy’s from selling a generic version of Suboxone while a patent-infringement suit is pending.

The Federal Circuit said Indivior has until Dec. 20 to file a petition for rehearing in the case, and no extensions will be granted. The court rejected a Dr. Reddy’s request that would have allowed the company to go to market immediately.

To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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