Asian share markets are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 0.4% while the Hang Seng is down 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.2%. Over the weekend, US stock indices closed mostly higher on gains in energy stocks.
Back home, India share markets opened the day on a flattish note. The BSE Sensex is trading down by 46 points while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 14 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both opened up by 0.2% & 0.1% respectively.
Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with energy stocks and automobile stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure. While healthcare stocks & metal stocks opened the day in green. The rupee is trading at 67.77 to the US$.
In the news from the pharma space. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited has lost a patent battle with Eli Lilly and Company over the litigation on Alimta (pemetrexed for injection) in the US. It is a drug meant for the treatment of several types of cancers.
Eli Lilly and Company announced that the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled in favor of Lilly that the Alimta vitamin regimen patent would be infringed by a competitor that had stated its intent to market alternative salt forms of pemetrexed prior to the patent’s expiration in May 2022.
In a separate decision on 15 June, the District Court also ruled in favor of Lilly in the case of Eli Lilly and Company Vs Hospira.
Reportedly, these rulings mean Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Hospira will be prevented from launching their alternative salt forms of pemetrexed until the patent expires. Lilly said in its statement that it expects both Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Hospira to appeal.
In October 2017, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled in the company’s favor regarding the patentability of the vitamin regimen for Alimta.
