Novartis loses bid to block US Entresto generic through 2026

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) -Novartis cannot block drugmaker MSN Pharmaceuticals from launching a generic version of its blockbuster heart-failure drug Entresto through late 2026, a Delaware federal judge said on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews rejected Novartis' argument that MSN's generic would infringe one of its patents and denied its request to block the generic from launching until after the patent expires in November 2026.

Novartis told the court in a separate filing on Friday that India-based MSN may receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the generic as soon as July 16 and launch it soon after. The generic would cut into the U.S. market for Switzerland-based Novartis' best-selling drug, which earned the company more than $7.8 billion in global revenue last year according to a company report.

Novartis stock was down more than 2% on Friday morning. Spokespeople for Novartis and MSN did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

Novartis had convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in January to halt MSN's launch of its generic until July in a separate patent case.

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Chizu Nomiyama )