MDCO loses Angiomax patent appeal with USPTO. Unless Congress steps in to help, MDCO will lose the five-year patent extension under Hatch-Waxman, and the Angiomax patent will expire in 2010 instead of 2015. This represents a devastating loss of income arising from the clerical error of filing the extension request with the PTO one day past the deadline.
The principal U.S. patent that covers The Medicines Company's (the "Company") product, Angiomax® (bivalirudin), expires in 2010. In 2002, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the "PTO") denied the Company's application under the Hatch Waxman Act for an extension of the term of the patent beyond 2010 because the application was not filed on time by the Company's counsel. In October 2002, the Company filed a request with the PTO for reconsideration of the denial of the application. On April 26, 2007, the Company received a decision denying the Company's application for patent term extension. The Company disagrees with the PTO's decision. The Company intends to seek review of this decision and continue to pursue other actions. <<