Winston Muscles Out a Win on Steroid Drug

Winston & Strawn obtained a significant trial victory on December 16, 2014, for clients Actavis Inc. and Watson Laboratories. The case is related to Watson’s Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to make a generic version of the drug Testim®.

Testim, a testosterone gel marketed by Auxilium Pharmaceuticals to treat conditions associated with low testosterone, had more than $200M in sales in 2013. Although the plaintiffs originally asserted ten patents against Watson, ultimately, this two-week trial focused on one patent that would determine the fate of them all.

Winston secured a ruling from the court that the lone remaining Testim patent was invalid. The court found the claimed invention would have been “obvious,” and that the patent was also invalid for both derivation and incorrect inventorship.

The Winston team included Chicago-based partners George Lombardi, Ivan Poullaos, and Kurt Mathas, and associate Brian Nisbet.

Winston & Strawn will continue to represent Actavis and Watson Laboratories in the next patent trial scheduled for February 2015.