31 August 2017 - A six-week hearing in the Federal Court of Australia commenced this week to decide whether the Commonwealth is entitled to damages related to generics being delayed from listing on the PBS.

On Monday 28 August 2017, the long-awaited hearing of Commonwealth of Australia v Sanofi-Aventis & Ors commenced in the Federal Court of Australia before Justice Nicholas. The hearing is scheduled to run for six weeks, with the final hearing day listed for 6 October 2017.

This proceeding is a continuation of long-running litigation commenced in 2007, in which two patentees, including Sanofi (Patentees), sought and obtained interlocutory injunctions in two different sets of patent litigation proceedings, which prevented the alleged infringers, including Apotex, from marketing and supplying generic pharmaceutical products that were registered under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. The drug in question in Sanofi’s proceedings is clopridogel (Plavix®), which is used to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

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