GlaxoSmithKline’s heart drug Coreg has been doing its job for a while, but it still pumps out more money for the U.K. drug company to keep fighting patent battles for the drug. Teva now finds itself on the losing end of one of those fights in another carve-out patent battle.

A federal jury in Delaware has awarded GSK $235 million in a suit in which it found that Teva had infringed GSK’s drug by marketing its generic as a treatment for chronic heart failure, as well as high blood pressure.

Teva may go for appeal against this verdict as an option it still has.

Coreg, which generated $131 million for GSK last year, has been around since about 1995. It is approved for treating a number of conditions, including congestive heart failure. Teva’s generic when approved had a so-called carve-out for CHF, which essentially allows copies of a drug to launch for particular uses while one or more indication is still covered by a method-of-use patent. 

GSK contended that Teva induced healthcare providers to infringe that patent by marketing its drug for congestive heart failure as well as its approved uses.

The Jury agreed to the above fact and gave the verdict.

The Author is a Patent Specialist from MR Technollect Solutions (www.MRTechnollect.com).