Although lovastatin itself would not be protected by a patent, Andrx's delayed-release formulation would.
AstraZeneca challenged Andrx's version of Prilosec by saying that the generic drug wasn't really equivalent.
Andrx accused AstraZeneca of trying to convince the FDA not to approve Andrx's generic Prilosec.
When Andrx launches its generic version, the value of Prilosec will be cut in half.
If Altocor really can delay Alzheimer's disease, Andrx will have turned the tables on big drug companies.
Still, it will be more than a little ironic if Altocor does wind up being a big drug for Andrx.
That's good news for Andrx, which hopes to sell its delayed-release lovastatin as a new drug under the brand name Altocor.
But on Nov. 23, regulators cleared the Andrx version of the drug for sale--as soon as the legal stumbling blocks have fallen.
For Prilosec, Andrx and Pharmaceutical Resources' Genpharm division share that six-month exclusivity.
That's exactly the kind of break companies like Andrx and Watson Pharmaceuticals (nyse: WPI - news - people) yearn for.
It says only Andrx--and not the other generic drugmakers--has violated it.
Andrx may have the best shot at winning the court battle because it claims to have developed a patented two-layer formulation that completely avoids Astra's middle layer.
Andrx (nasdaq: ADRX - news - people) was already hoping Altocor would help it become a bona fide drugmaker and escape the generic drug ghetto.
If generic drugmaker Andrx and the other defendants win, their stocks and profits will rise, while Astra's earnings will likely suffer and the firm could become takeover bait.
One intriguing possibility is that the judge could rule in favor of Andrx but against the other three generic firms, giving Andrx an extended period as the only generic on the market.
For example, Eli Lilly (nyse: LLY - news - people) is now heavily advertising its once-a-week version of Prozac, trying to recapture market share that generic firms, including Andrx, have stolen.
Andrx Chief Executive Elliot Hahn says that if his company wins the first two parts of this case--covering three of five patents--it may go ahead and launch its drug without waiting for the trial to end.
This may mean that Andrx and Genpharm can appeal the decision while keeping KUDco's generic off the market. (Andrx says it will likely appeal.) However, it is not clear that such a Rube Goldberg strategy will work.
But during the trial Astra brought in a drug-delivery expert from the University of Nottingham who analyzed Andrx's pellets under a microscope with infrared and ultraviolet light and concluded they contain a third layer after all, thus infringing Astra's patents.
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