Virus Delays, Few Approvals Dry Up Generic Drug Lawsuits in 2020

Drug patent lawsuits took a 21% dive from this time last year, a “perfect storm” that traces back to 2016 when the FDA only approved a handful of new drugs.

That means fewer generic drugs are expected to hit the shelves based on lawsuits launched in 2020. However, the dip is expected to be temporary because the number of novel drugs winning Food and Drug Administration approval rebounded in 2017 and in subsequent years.

“There’s just far fewer opportunities for generics to take advantage of this year,” said Keri Schaubert, a patent attorney at Cozen O’Connor. “When you combine that ...