Sanofi settles further Eloxatin patent suits

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis has settled a patent law suit over cancer drug Eloxatin with additional drugmakers, stopping them selling their generic versions in the United States from June 30 until August 2012.

The agreement announced on Tuesday relates to Mayne/Hospira, MN/Par and Actavis and follows similar settlements with Teva Pharmaceuticals, Fresenius Kabi and Novartis' Sandoz unit unveiled last week.

The suits came after generic drugmakers launched a cheaper copy earlier than expected last year that eroded sales of Eloxatin.

Sanofi-Aventis said in a statement the generic companies would in 2012 launch an officially licensed version of injectable Eloxatin, whose generic name is oxaliplatin.

The rest of the settlement provisions are confidential, Sanofi said. The deal requires approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Sanofi added that Sun Pharmaceuticals had also agreed to stop selling their Eloxatin generic during the same period.

Eloxatin sales in the fourth quarter of last year represented 1.1 percent of Sanofi's total pharma sales, with U.S. sales of the product down 97 percent at 7 million euros ($9.43 million).

For the full year, Eloxatin sales fell more than a third at constant exchange rates to 957 million euros.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

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