SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Santarus Inc. said Tuesday that a federal appeals court partly reversed a lower court's decision that some of the patents supporting Santarus' acid reflux drug Zegerid were not valid.
Santarus shares climbed more than 14 percent in the regular session and kept going in after-hours trading.
The company said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed in part a 2010 district court ruling that some of the claims supporting two patents on Zegerid were not valid. The case will be returned to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to hear further arguments based on the ruling. Santarus said it wants to stop Par Pharmaceutical Cos. from selling a generic version of Zegerid and seek damages from Par.
Shares of Santarus climbed 88 cents, or 14.2 percent, to $7.05 on Tuesday.
Santarus sued Par Pharmaceutical in 2007 over Par's proposed generic version of Zegerid. Par began selling a generic version of Zegerid capsules in July 2010, after the Delaware district court overturned some of the Zegerid patents. Santarus said the patents that are in dispute cover both capsule and powder versions of Zegerid, or omeprazole. It said those patents don't expire until July 2016, and Par was found to have infringed on them.
Santarus' other products include the diabetes drugs Glumetza and Cycloset and the cholesterol drug Fenoglide.
Santarus shares rose 88 cents, or 14.2 percent, to close at $7.06. they added another 20 cents, or 2.8 percent, in after-hours trading.
