Valentis Files Suit Against ALZA Corp. for Patent Infringement
BURLINGAME, Calif., April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Valentis, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLTS - news) today confirmed a Bloomberg report that its wholly-owned subsidiary, PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals, has filed a lawsuit against ALZA Corporation for patent infringement based on ALZA's manufacture and sale of its liposomal products, Doxil® and Caelyx®. Through the lawsuit, PolyMASC is asking the court to find that ALZA has infringed PolyMASC's patent. PolyMASC is seeking monetary damages and enhanced damages should the court find that ALZA's infringement was willful.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, and alleges infringement of U.S. Patent Number 6,132,763, titled ``Liposomes.'' The patent, issued October 17, 2000, is based on early pioneering work by PolyMASC inventors and is directed towards PEGylated liposomes (liposomes having polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains attached). Doxil® and Caelyx® are PEGylated liposomes encapsulating the drug doxorubicin. Doxil® is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of refractory ovarian cancer and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma; Caelyx® is marketed in Europe and Canada for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma and in Canada for breast cancer... |
