Epoetin Alfa Hexal Receives Marketing Approval in Europe
On January 27, 2016, the Kolkata Patent Office’s, Dr. D.K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs, (Kolkata Patent Office) issued an Order refusing tüo proceed with GRÜNENTHAL GMBH’s (Company) Indian Patent Application Number 4004/KOLNP/2009 (Patent Application) for “use of Tapentadol for treating pain due to osteoarthritis”. GRÜNENTHAL is a family-owned German pharmaceutical company that discovered and started the development of Tapentadol before entering in a co-development agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (part of Johnson & Johnson) in 2003 for Nucynta® for acute and chronic pain conditions. Notably, on January 15, 2015, the Company announced that it had consented to the divestment of Nucynta brand in the United States, including the Extended-Release and Oral Solution dosage formulations to Depomed, Inc