Galen and Barr settle patent dispute

Pharmaceutical company Galen has settled its legal action with Barr Laboratories over a patent dispute.

Pharmaceutical company Galen has settled its legal action with Barr Laboratories over a patent dispute.

The dispute concerned Galen's Estrostep oral contraceptive and Femhrt hormone therapy products.

The agreement allows Barr to launch generic versions of those products under the terms of a non-exclusive license six months prior to patent expiry.

In a separate agreement, Galen has granted Barr an exclusive royalty-bearing license to develop certain oral contraceptives under a patent owned by Galen.