Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

An award of treble damages in a generic-drug case would likely require that willful infringement be crystal clear. I’m not aware of a generic-drug case where this has ever happened.

Is NVS/MNTA’s willful infringement of Teva’s patents crystal clear? I don’t think so, and the existence of MNTA’s 7,884,187 patent further muddies the waters. If NVS/MNTA were to launch generic Copaxone prior to a final ruling on this matter by the appellate court, it’s unlikely, IMO, that there would ultimately be an award of treble damages.

This discussion is mostly academic insofar as I expect an out of court settlement. The main relevance of the treble-damages threat is that NVS/MNTA will be able to negotiate a better settlement if the parties think the probability of treble damages is low.