District Court, District of Columbia June 20, 2001, CIV. A. 01-1343(JR) (Merck & Co., Inc. v. Food and Drug Admin.)

MEMORANDUM ORDER

ROBERTSON, District Judge.

Merck

&

Co. holds the U.S. patent on the highly successful anti-cholesterol drug lovastatin, which Merck markets as Meva-cor®. The patent was to expire on June 15, 2001. On that date, at least two manu

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facturers of generic equivalents

1

were waiting for approval of their applications to market generic versions of Mevacor.