Lilly Wins U.S. Patent Challenges to Its Alimta Cancer Drug

By Susan Decker and Tatiana Darie, Bloomberg News

Eli Lilly & Co. won a challenge to the validity of a patent that keeps generic versions of its $2 billion lung cancer drug Alimta off the U.S. market until 2022.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected arguments by companies including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit and Neptune Generics LLC that the patent didn’t cover anything new. The board issued a number of opinions encompassing a total of 12 challenges to the same patent.

Alimta generated $2.3 billion in sales last year, making it the company’s third-biggest seller ...