Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) has filed a lawsuit against Jacobus Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the New Jersey District Court and another one against PatherRx Rare LLC in the District Court of Western Pennsylvanian District.
Catalyst seeking damages and injunctive relieve
The company is suing Jacobus and PantherRx for infringement of US Patent No 10,793,893. This patent is exclusively licensed to Catalyst, and it covers certain disease treating methods using amifampridine drug products, which includes its Firdapse® product in patients that are slow amifampridine metabolizers. The suit arises following PantherRx’s and Jacobus’s marketing and sales of Ruzurgi® (amifampridine 10 mg).
According to the lawsuits, the Ruzurgi® product infringes the ‘893 patent is it is administered as per its product labeling. Catalyst is seeking damages and injunctive relief to block further marketing of Ruzurgi®, which violates its patent rights.
Patrick McEnany, the CEO and Chairman of Catalyst, said that the company has invested a lot of resources in neuromuscular drug discovery. He also said that they have invested in creating an IP portfolio that helps in drug discovery and development for neurodegenerative diseases that don’t have an effective and safe FDA approved treatment. Patrick said that Catalyst will diligently protect its patent rights for the benefit of shareholders and the company and prevent others’ infringement. The company is confident in its patent portfolio and has equally filed other patent applications that claim priority from patent ‘893 to protect the Firdapse® patent estate further.
Action mechanism of Firdapse®
Firdapse® 10 mg is a nonspecific, oral, voltage-dependent potassium channel blocker. It results in depolarization of the presynaptic membrane and inhibits or slows repolarization. The action mechanism of Firdpse® leads to the opening of slow voltage-dependent calcium channels, thus allowing a subsequent influx of calcium. Firdapse in the process induces exocytosis of the synaptic vesicles containing acetylcholine to release more Acetylcholine into the synaptic cleft. This thus improves neuromuscular transmission and provides for enhanced muscle function. Firdapsts received FDA approval for adults’ treatment with LEMS I November 2018, and it’s commercially available in the US.
