GSK wins $235 million from Teva in Coreg patent trial

A U.S. jury has ordered Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd to pay GlaxoSmithKline Plc more than $235 million for infringing a patent covering its blood pressure drug Coreg, court documents showed.

A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday found that Teva willfully infringed the patent in connection with its sales of a generic version of the drug with a label indicating it could be used for treating chronic heart failure.

The jury rejected Teva’s contention that the patent was invalid. It awarded GSK $234.1 million in lost profits and said the drug company deserved an additional $1.4 million in royalties.

GSK in a statement said that it was pleased with the trial’s outcome. Teva said it was disappointed.

“We still intend to present our equitable defenses to the court at a separate hearing which could eliminate the liability determination or significantly reduce the assessed damages,” Teva said in a statement. “We are also considering an appeal.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Teva’s generic version of Coreg, or carvedilol, in 2007.

GSK said that while Teva’s FDA application had a carve-out to address its use for treating chronic heart failure, which GSK said remained under patent, the generic drugmaker changed its label in 2011 to add that use.

GSK said that as a result, Teva induced healthcare providers to infringe its patent by selling a generic version of the drug and marketing it as a substitute for Coreg.

The case is GlaxoSmithKline LLC et al v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 14-cv-00878.