Roth reiterates $31 target.
Comments on patent litigation:
AMRN scores another win in its battle against Vascepa imitators. In its ongoing litigation with potential generic competitor drugs to Vascepa (named in the court docket as West-Ward Pharma, Hikma Pharma, and Dr. Reddy's Labs), yesterday's news brought a summary judgment that we see as ruling favorably for AMRN. Let's break down the litigation update piece-by-piece: 1) First, remember that AMRN (plaintiffs) and the generic drug developers (defendants) are engaged in a court dispute over ANDA patent litigation and what the generic developers are allowed IP-wise; 2) In this situation, the generic developers typically will try to get an early end to the litigation, known as a summary judgment, to limit the scope of the case and bring an early end to the trial; 3) However, in this update the Court ruled against the ANDA filers' (generics) summary judgment, and narrowed several potential lines of generic argument from the case, thus benefiting AMRN; and 4) As discussed in a press release on its website (see here), the ruling also brings the possibility of ANDA case settlement with generics, should the option be in AMRN's best interest. We see this litigation news, which limits the scope of IP the case will focus on, as reaffirming the robust patent protection (100+) for Vascepa and confirming the strength of its Orange Book patents, which don't expire until 2030. In our view, AMRN is set up to achieve a dominant market position as a CV-risk reducing drug for the long-term vs. the horde of generic EPA drug developers.
