Appeals court finds parts of Santarus patents valid

A federal appeals court earlier today overturned a ruling by a lower court which held that patents obtained by Santarus (SNTS) for a stomach acid treatment were all invalid. Ruling on the validity of an attempt by Par Pharmaceuticals (PRX) to market a generic version of Santarus' gastric acid treatment Zegerid, the district court found that Santarus' patents were invalid because they were based on obvious ideas. However, the appeals court found that parts of two of Santarus' patents were not based on obvious concepts, and it ordered the lower court to reconsider its verdict based on its findings. In early afternoon trading, Santarus rose 3.4% to $6.39 before being halted, while Par added 0.16% to $49.88.