Actavis plc today confirmed that a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a ruling upholding a December 15, 2014 preliminary injunction requiring the company to continue distribution of NAMENDA@(memantine HCl) immediate-release tablets.
“While we are disappointed by the Court’s decision to uphold this ruling, we intend to continue our strong efforts to convey the significant benefits of NAMENDA XR@ to physicians, patients and caregivers,” said Brent Saunders, CEO and President of Actavis. “Patient demand for NAMENDA XR@ is currently trending at more than 50 percent of the total product line’s days of therapy and growing, underscoring the strong physician, patient and caregiver demand for our once-daily product.”
“We have also recently launched once-daily NAMZARIC@, a fixed-dose combination of NAMENDA XR@ and donepezil that provides another treatment option for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Since the launch of NAMENDA XR@ in 2013, the two medications, NAMENDA XR@ and donepezil, have been commonly prescribed in combination with one another to treat the symptoms of moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. NAMZARIC@ offers an option with the benefits of both treatments, while reducing the number of pills a patient and their caregivers need to administer each day, to treat this disease.”
Actavis noted that the Company will continue to manage sales and R&D expenses to ensure that the Appeals court’s decision will have minimal to no impact on its 2015 NAMENDA@ franchise contribution to earnings and longer term company earnings aspirations.
