MinterEllison announced today it had achieved a major victory for its client, Alphapharm, in resisting an interlocutory injunction made by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in a high stakes battle in the Federal Court.

Sanofi launched proceedings against Alphapharm in the Federal Court on 20 August 2018 with the assertion that an insulin glargine injector pen product Alphapharm proposed to launch in Australia would infringe Sanofi Deutschland’s patent for an injector pen device.

Insulin glargine is a biologic medicine used in the treatment of both Type One and Type Two diabetes, and there is a substantial market for such products in Australia.

As a part of the Court proceedings, Sanofi sought an urgent interlocutory injunction in an attempt to restrain the launch of Alphapharm’s product pending the trial. The effect of such an injunction would be to keep Alphapharm out of the insulin glargine market until the proceeding is finally determined.

"This decision is highly significant for Alphapharm and the entire pharmaceutical industry, as it represents one of the very few Australian pharmaceutical patent cases where an application for an interlocutory injunction has been refused", said Robert Cooper, MinterEllison partner.

Partners Robert Cooper and Jonathan Kelp acted for Alphapharm supported by a team of lawyers including Amy Surkis, Tony Middleton and James Webster.

MinterEllison provides ongoing support to Alphapharm (and other Mylan entities), including advising on commercial matters and acting in numerous other high-stakes patent disputes.

Pharmaceutical and life sciences patent litigation is an important component of MinterEllison's health industry practice.