LONDON -- Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (IW 1000/131) on Monday said it had settled a long-running patent lawsuit over its top-selling drug Crestor.
AstraZeneca said that the deal would protect its sales of the anti-cholesterol drug until 2016.
"AstraZeneca today announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement in its US patent infringement litigation against Watson Laboratories, Inc., Actavis, Inc. (formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), and EGIS Pharmaceuticals," the company said.
Crestor generated $6.25 billion of sales in 2012, down from $6.6 billion in 2011 after losing patent protection in certain regions.
AstraZeneca's announcement comes after it last week said it was cutting 3,900 jobs -- in a major restructuring of the group over the next three years.
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