Delaware judge rules against Sanofi-Aventis in patent fight over cancer drug

Sanofi loses cancer drug patent fight in Del.

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has ruled against French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA in a patent dispute involving its cancer drug Taxotere.

The judge ruled Monday that the claims asserted by the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical company involving Taxotere were both invalid and unenforceable.

The ruling comes almost a year after a trial in a lawsuit filed by Sanofi against Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill., and Toronto’s Apotex Corp. which sought to make generic versions of the drug. Taxotere is used to treat breast cancer and prostate cancer, among others.