Drug Clashes Continue Amid Crackdown on Registry Patent Listings

No company was hit harder by the US Federal Trade Commission’s crackdown on patents listed on the federal registry of approved drugs than Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.—and few companies have responded as aggressively.

The FTC warned eight companies to pull dozens of improperly listed entries from the US Food and Drug Administration’s Orange Book registry. Their goal: accelerating the approval of cheaper versions of branded drugs, including asthma inhalers and epinephrine autoinjectors.

Three companies have pulled most or all of their FTC-targeted listings. But Teva—whose listings accounted for nearly 40% of the FTC’s 110 targets—wasn’t deterred.

The ...