It looks like Bayer is going to be on the other side of a Yaz lawsuit for a change. The company has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Sun Pharmaceuticals. The lawsuit is a direct effort to prevent Sun Pharma from selling a generic version of Bayer’s popular but controversial birth control pill, Yaz.
The lawsuit specifically mentions that Sun wants to sell the drug in the U.S. including (or even specifically within) New Jersey. Sun Pharma also is accused of submitting its Abbreviated New Drugs Application (ANDA) to the FDA. The case likely will be heard in a New Jersey Court since Sun Pharmaceuticals sells its version of Yaz within New Jersey and markets the generic version of the drug on its website to people that specifically live in the state. The lawsuit also claims that Sun Pharma uses third party websites as a means of marketing its generic drugs to New Jersey residents. Bayer also wants to prevent Sun Pharma from being able to promote its generic version of Yaz.
Yaz is one of Bayer’s most popular drugs on the market today despite the fact that Yaz/Yasmin have suffered through much controversy because of the lawsuits being filed that are claiming that Bayer hid such side effects as heart attacks, pulmonary embolism, birth defects, blood clots and strokes. Bayer released a clone of Yaz that the company calls Beyaz, which is essentially Yaz with folate added into it as a means of “correcting” the issue, but Yaz continues to produce high sales for the drug giant.
Bayer filed the suit on January 12, 2011, and the case will be heard by a jury. It is a wonder why Sun Pharma has decided to make a generic clone of such a controversial pill in the first place, but profits can’t be ignored. You can view the actual filing of the lawsuit here.
