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AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) is reportedly suing Sandoz and four other generic drugmakers to prevent them from marketing copycat versions of its blockbuster drug Rinvoq.
AbbVie filed the suit in a federal court in Delaware earlier this week alleging that Sandoz, Hetero Labs, Aurobindo Pharma, Intas Pharmaceuticals and Sun Pharmaceutical are infringing upon its patents for Rinvoq with their proposed generic formulations of the drug, according to Fierce Pharma.
Rinvoq is approved for the treatment of several autoimmune disorders, including eczema, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and axial spondylarthritis. The drug is one of AbbVie’s best selling products, with sales of $2.5B in 2022.
AbbVie investors have been hoping that Rinvoq along with a sibling drug called Skyrizi will help compensate for declining sales of the company’s top-selling drug Humira, which is facing increased competition from biosimilars. Despite generic competition, Humira still generated sales of $21.2B last year, while Skyrizi took in $5.2B.