throbber
Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 1 of 100 PageID #: 5243
`833
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`IN AND FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
`- - -
`:
`:
`:
`
`CIVIL ACTION
`
`NO. 14-1453-LPS
`
`::
`
`::
`
`BEFORE:
`APPEARANCES:
`
`- - -
`Wilmington, Delaware
`Tuesday, March 21, 2017
`Bench Trial (Closing Arguments) - Volume E
`- - -
`HONORABLE LEONARD A. STARK, Chief Judge
`- - -
`
`RICHARDS LAYTON & FINGER, P.A.
`BY: FREDERICK L. COTTRELL, III, ESQ., and
`SELENA E. MOLINA, ESQ.
`and
`STERNE KESSLER GOLDSTEIN & FOX, LLP
`BY: UMA N. EVERETT, ESQ.,
`DENNIES VARUGHESE, ESQ.,
`ADAM C. LaROCK, ESQ.,
`JOSHUA I. MILLER, ESQ.,
`JOSEPHINE J. KIM, ESQ.,
`STEPHANIE NGUYEN, ESQ., and
`MARK FOX EVENS, ESQ.
`(Washington, District of Columbia)
`Counsel for Plaintiffs
`
`Brian P. Gaffigan
`Official Court Reporter
`
`MEDA PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.,
`and CIPLA LTD.,
`Plaintiffs,
`
`v.
`APOTEX INC. and APOTEX CORP.,
`Defendants.
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 2 of 100 PageID #: 5244
`834
`
`APPEARANCES: (Continued)
`
`HEYMAN ENERIO GATTUSO & HIRZEL, LLP
`BY: DOMINICK GATTUSO, ESQ.
`and
`WINSTON & STRAWN, LLP
`BY:
`GEORGE C. LOMBARDI, ESQ.,
`SAMUEL S. PARK, ESQ.,
`KEVIN E. WARNER, ESQ., and
`RYAN B. HAUER, ESQ.
`(Chicago, Illinois)
`and
`WINSTON & STRAWN, LLP
`BY: CHARLES B. KLEIN, ESQ., and
`ILAN WURMAN, ESQ.
`(Washington, District of Columbia)
`Counsel on behalf of Defendants
`
`- oOo -
`P R O C E E D I N G S
`(REPORTER'S NOTE: Bench trial closing arguments
`were held in open court, beginning at 2:07 p.m.)
`THE COURT: Good afternoon, everyone.
`(The attorneys respond, "Good afternoon, Your
`
`Honor.")
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`01:50:18
`
`01:50:18
`
`01:50:20
`
`01:51:18
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 3 of 100 PageID #: 5245
`835
`
`THE COURT: Welcome back and welcome upstairs.
`Let me have you put your appearances on the record for us.
`MS. MOLINA: Hello, Your Honor. Selena Molina
`from Richards Layton & Finger here on behalf of plaintiffs
`Meda and Cipla. I have with me from my office, Fred Cottrell.
`And from Sterne Kessler, we have Dennies
`
`Varughese.
`
`MR. VARUGHESE: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`MS. MOLINA: Uma Everett.
`MS. EVERETT: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`MS. MOLINA: Adam LaRock.
`MR. LaROCK: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`MS. MOLINA: Josh Miller.
`MR. MILLER: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`MS. MOLINA: And we have Bill Goodwin who will
`be our hot-seat operator for the day.
`THE COURT: Good afternoon to all of you.
`MR. GATTUSO: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`THE COURT: Good afternoon.
`MR. GATTUSO: Dominick Gattuso from Heyman
`Enerio Gattuso & Hirzel on behalf of defendant Apotex.
`I have with me today, George Lombardi.
`MR. LOMBARDI: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`MR. GATTUSO: Chuck Klein.
`MR. KLEIN: Good afternoon.
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`01:51:18
`
`02:07:16
`
`02:07:19
`
`02:07:24
`
`02:07:28
`
`02:07:31
`
`02:07:31
`
`02:07:34
`
`02:07:34
`
`02:07:35
`
`02:07:36
`
`02:07:37
`
`02:07:38
`
`02:07:39
`
`02:07:39
`
`02:07:41
`
`02:07:43
`
`02:07:46
`
`02:07:48
`
`02:07:49
`
`02:07:53
`
`02:07:55
`
`02:07:57
`
`02:07:58
`
`02:07:59
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 4 of 100 PageID #: 5246
`836
`
`MR. GATTUSO: And Ilan Wurman from Winston &
`
`THE COURT: Thank you. Good afternoon again to
`
`Strawn.
`
`all of you.
`
`I think we have allocated an hour per side for
`closing argument. You can each use some of that for
`rebuttal to the extent you save your time for it and we'll
`begin with defendants.
`MR. LOMBARDI: Good afternoon, Your Honor.
`THE COURT: Good afternoon.
`MR. LOMBARDI: For the record, George Lombardi
`on behalf of Apotex. And from the start here, Your Honor, I
`just remind everybody of what the issues are we're dealing
`with.
`
`If you can go to the next slide please.
`We're talking about two patents, the '428 and
`the '620 patent. They both cover essentially the same basic
`idea, the same basic idea of being that they deal with two
`known FDA approved drugs, azelastine hydrochloride and
`fluticasone propionate. They deal with known excipients.
`That's the second thing they deal with.
`They operate for their known functions. In
`other words, they are known how they operate in formulations
`and they operate exactly in that way with this formulation;
`and the claims cover the known use, which is allergic
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:08:00
`
`02:08:02
`
`02:08:04
`
`02:08:05
`
`02:08:06
`
`02:08:10
`
`02:08:12
`
`02:08:16
`
`02:08:22
`
`02:08:32
`
`02:08:33
`
`02:08:34
`
`02:08:39
`
`02:08:42
`
`02:08:42
`
`02:08:44
`
`02:08:47
`
`02:08:52
`
`02:08:56
`
`02:09:00
`
`02:09:05
`
`02:09:06
`
`02:09:09
`
`02:09:11
`
`02:09:15
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 5 of 100 PageID #: 5247
`837
`
`rhinitis, which Your Honor knows from the trial is
`essentially a hayfever type of situation.
`The fundamental idea here, Your Honor -- if we
`can go to the next slide, I guess I'll get to the fundamental
`idea.
`
`I'll tell you first what I'm going to talk about.
`I'll talk about, first, the combination of fluticasone and
`azelastine.
`
`Secondly, about how to make the formulation and
`what the additional excipients are. And,
`Third, about the secondary considerations.
`So now let's go to fundamental idea is that
`they took two popular nasal sprays, the inventors did,
`azelastine hydrochloride, which is an antihistamine, acts
`on the histamine receptor, and fluticasone which is a
`steroid, a corticosteroid, both were known treatments for
`this condition, allergic rhinitis, and put them together in
`the claims and then in a product which embodies the claims
`called Dymista. And Dymista, of course, is a nasal spray
`that is there to treat allergic rhinitis.
`Now --
`THE COURT: The dose of the azelastine in
`Dymista is different than the dose of azelastine in Astelin;
`correct?
`
`MR. LOMBARDI: That is correct, Your Honor. It
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:09:18
`
`02:09:21
`
`02:09:24
`
`02:09:27
`
`02:09:33
`
`02:09:33
`
`02:09:35
`
`02:09:39
`
`02:09:40
`
`02:09:42
`
`02:09:44
`
`02:09:46
`
`02:09:49
`
`02:09:55
`
`02:09:57
`
`02:10:01
`
`02:10:04
`
`02:10:08
`
`02:10:12
`
`02:10:15
`
`02:10:17
`
`02:10:19
`
`02:10:23
`
`02:10:23
`
`02:10:30
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 6 of 100 PageID #: 5248
`838
`
`is the same as the way Astelin is dosed in Europe but it is
`different than the way it is dosed literally in the Astelin
`product in the United States.
`THE COURT: In fact, less, maybe half as much.
`MR. LOMBARDI: It is exactly half as much which
`is exactly what the dosage is in Europe.
`THE COURT: Now, might that therefore support a
`finding that the benefits or the success of the combined
`product is unexpected given that the dose is lower and yet
`we see some successful results?
`MR. LOMBARDI: I don't think so, Your Honor, for
`
`this reason.
`
`One is that the steroid in these combinations is
`the backbone really of the treatment here. It is what does
`the lion's share of the treatment. What happens with the
`antihistamine in the treatment is that it fills the gap
`between the time when you start administration of the drug
`and when the steroid can take effect.
`And so the whole purpose of the antihistamine
`here is to fill that gap. You might remember that we had
`some slides with the experts about early phase and late
`phase of allergic rhinitis. Well, the antihistamine jumps
`in during the early phase. The steroid comes in at the
`late phase.
`
`So I don't think it's -- I think the evidence is
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:10:31
`
`02:10:34
`
`02:10:37
`
`02:10:38
`
`02:10:40
`
`02:10:43
`
`02:10:45
`
`02:10:47
`
`02:10:50
`
`02:10:54
`
`02:10:57
`
`02:10:58
`
`02:10:59
`
`02:11:03
`
`02:11:06
`
`02:11:11
`
`02:11:15
`
`02:11:18
`
`02:11:21
`
`02:11:24
`
`02:11:26
`
`02:11:31
`
`02:11:34
`
`02:11:37
`
`02:11:38
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 7 of 100 PageID #: 5249
`839
`
`that it wasn't surprising that it would succeed because both
`operate exactly how you expect them to operate under these
`circumstances.
`Significantly, Your Honor -- if we can go to the
`next slide -- this is a case where there really isn't much
`dispute at least among the experts and among the documents,
`putting aside the parties because there is a dispute among
`the parties, as to the logic of putting these two drugs,
`these two active ingredients together in the same formulation.
`Every single testifying physician in this case,
`whether on our side or their side co-prescribed these two
`drugs before 2002. And I wanted to make -- just to be
`clear, Your Honor. I'm not saying they were prescribed in
`the same bottle. I'm saying that they were co-prescribed,
`meaning they were prescribed to the same patients at the
`same time to treat the same disease. But every single
`testifying physician in this case said that.
`In addition, every guideline that Your Honor had
`before you taught the use of this. And you had guideline, a
`guideline called ARIA, I'm going to look at in more detail
`in just a second, Dykewicz and Cauwenberge, I'm going to
`say. They all recommended this kind of co-prescription of
`the two drugs, the two separate drugs to treat people who
`had allergic rhinitis.
`And here is the ARIA Guideline. And, Your
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:11:41
`
`02:11:44
`
`02:11:48
`
`02:11:48
`
`02:11:50
`
`02:11:55
`
`02:11:59
`
`02:12:02
`
`02:12:06
`
`02:12:10
`
`02:12:14
`
`02:12:18
`
`02:12:22
`
`02:12:25
`
`02:12:27
`
`02:12:31
`
`02:12:34
`
`02:12:37
`
`02:12:44
`
`02:12:47
`
`02:12:51
`
`02:12:55
`
`02:12:59
`
`02:13:04
`
`02:13:05
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 8 of 100 PageID #: 5250
`840
`
`Honor, we saw this with a number of witnesses during the
`trial and put in a box the important parts, but the first
`one is you start with the glucocorticosteroid as a first
`line treatment.
`That goes back to my answer to Your Honor's
`first question. The steroids are the first line treatment
`and No. 4 you see if the patient doesn't improve, then there
`are things that you are given instruction on doing. And one
`of them is to add an antihistamine.
`So right there in the ARIA Guidelines from
`2001 -- our date here is 2002, Your Honor, just to remind
`the Court -- ARIA taught to combine these two types of
`drugs. And there are other guidelines. I'm not going to
`show them all to you now unless Your Honor would like to see
`them at some point.
`And plaintiffs' experts acknowledged that they
`did do that combination.
`So Dr. Kaliner, who was one of two plaintiffs'
`experts that really went to the science, the technology
`here, Dr. Kaliner said: "We did combine azelastine and
`fluticasone among many, many, many other treatment options
`that we did. I'm not saying we didn't do that."
`So plaintiffs' experts were following these
`guidelines, and in fact were using not just the guidelines
`to use antihistamines and steroids but were using the
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:13:09
`
`02:13:11
`
`02:13:15
`
`02:13:21
`
`02:13:21
`
`02:13:24
`
`02:13:27
`
`02:13:31
`
`02:13:35
`
`02:13:38
`
`02:13:42
`
`02:13:45
`
`02:13:51
`
`02:13:54
`
`02:13:56
`
`02:13:58
`
`02:14:03
`
`02:14:05
`
`02:14:10
`
`02:14:13
`
`02:14:18
`
`02:14:21
`
`02:14:23
`
`02:14:25
`
`02:14:29
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 9 of 100 PageID #: 5251
`841
`
`precise drugs, the precise actives that are at issue here.
`So, Your Honor, I don't think there is any
`question that the teaching of the art was to -- (bumping
`against lectern mike) excuse me, I'm sorry -- to combine
`azelastine and fluticasone together.
`Now, plaintiffs obviously had a different view.
`And this is a chart that they put up before Your Honor with
`their experts. And to acclimate Your Honor to this chart,
`the idea of this chart, the critical date is the red dotted
`line, and the idea of this chart was to try to communicate
`that by the critical date there was literature out there
`that indicated that there was no benefit to the combination
`of an antihistamine and a steroid or they say and
`acknowledge in two places that there were weak benefits.
`That was a chart they put up.
`Now, our experts contradicted that and our experts
`said that in five of the seven cases, there was a benefit,
`and where there wasn't a benefit specifically shown, there
`certainly was no teaching away from the combination. And I
`don't think plaintiffs to this day have ever made an argument
`that anything taught away.
`But the easiest way to resolve this -- and, Your
`Honor, I can go back just for a second.
`In our briefs, we do go through each of the
`articles and we talk about what they actually show and we
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:14:32
`
`02:14:37
`
`02:14:39
`
`02:14:42
`
`02:14:44
`
`02:14:47
`
`02:14:50
`
`02:14:53
`
`02:14:59
`
`02:15:02
`
`02:15:05
`
`02:15:09
`
`02:15:13
`
`02:15:19
`
`02:15:22
`
`02:15:24
`
`02:15:27
`
`02:15:31
`
`02:15:34
`
`02:15:37
`
`02:15:40
`
`02:15:43
`
`02:15:47
`
`02:15:49
`
`02:15:54
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 10 of 100 PageID #: 5252
`842
`
`talk about why they actually do show a benefit. And, again,
`I can do that today if that would be helpful and that is
`necessary. But the easiest way to show this is through what
`Dr. Kaliner and what others in the art did during this time.
`Dr. Kaliner being, of course, one of plaintiffs' experts.
`So he testified at trial that his opinion was
`that experts in the field consistently expressed skepticism
`that an antihistamine would add benefit to a nasal
`corticosteroid. He said "yes" to that.
`But what we found out on cross-examination is
`that Dr. Kaliner had actually given a speech in May of 2002,
`one month before the critical date, and in that speech, he
`presented Table III here and Table III, the second bullet,
`specifically teaches a corticosteroid plus nasal
`antihistamine for residual symptoms, specifically taught
`that that is what one should give.
`THE COURT: So there is reference there, of
`course, to oral antihistamine.
`MR. LOMBARDI: That is correct.
`THE COURT: And there is a lot in the briefing
`where essentially I would say the plaintiffs characterize
`your side as not being entirely straight about the
`difference between oral antihistamine and nasal
`antihistamine. Do you want to clarify that?
`MR. LOMBARDI: Well, there is no, certainly no
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:15:57
`
`02:16:01
`
`02:16:04
`
`02:16:08
`
`02:16:12
`
`02:16:15
`
`02:16:20
`
`02:16:24
`
`02:16:29
`
`02:16:32
`
`02:16:37
`
`02:16:41
`
`02:16:44
`
`02:16:49
`
`02:16:54
`
`02:16:58
`
`02:17:01
`
`02:17:02
`
`02:17:05
`
`02:17:05
`
`02:17:07
`
`02:17:10
`
`02:17:15
`
`02:17:17
`
`02:17:19
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 11 of 100 PageID #: 5253
`843
`
`intention not to be straight about it. And I guess the
`easiest way to start, Your Honor, is to talk about this
`particular document; and I can go beyond that if that would
`be helpful.
`
`What Table III shows, Algorithms for Progressive
`Management Approaches. So this is as you proceed through
`the process. We have always said that there would be a
`stepwise approach. In fact, there are more oral
`antihistamines than there are nasal antihistamines at the
`relevant times here. We believe the evidence shows there
`are only two nasal spray antihistamines at this time.
`So, first, you try the oral plus a nasal
`corticosteroid.
`The next step was you continue with the oral
`and the nasal corticosteroid and then you would add a nasal
`antihistamine.
`So our position is, and I think what the
`evidence showed, is that you get to the point of the exact
`combination we're talking about here, a nasal corticosteroid
`plus a nasal antihistamine used at the same time to treat
`the same patient.
`THE COURT: To the extent some of your other
`prior art is only talking about oral antihistamines as
`opposed to nasal antihistamines, what relevance is there to
`it?
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:17:21
`
`02:17:23
`
`02:17:25
`
`02:17:29
`
`02:17:29
`
`02:17:35
`
`02:17:37
`
`02:17:40
`
`02:17:43
`
`02:17:46
`
`02:17:48
`
`02:17:50
`
`02:17:54
`
`02:17:55
`
`02:17:57
`
`02:18:01
`
`02:18:01
`
`02:18:04
`
`02:18:07
`
`02:18:11
`
`02:18:15
`
`02:18:17
`
`02:18:20
`
`02:18:23
`
`02:18:26
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 12 of 100 PageID #: 5254
`844
`
`MR. LOMBARDI: Well, I'm trying to -- I think
`the main art, we talk about, Your Honor, is spray
`antihistamines, I believe. And I think where -- if you
`could go back one slide? I think -- two slides, I guess.
`I think on this chart, a lot of what you see
`there in the prior art, there are oral antihistamines as
`opposed to nasal. And so perhaps you could say, that they
`have less relevance to what is going on here.
`But our art, the art that we primarily rely on
`specifically talks about the nasal antihistamine. So if we
`could skip back up to where we were.
`Table III -- one second -- again talks about the
`nasal corticosteroids plus nasal antihistamines once you
`have already started with the oral plus nasal antihistamine
`corticosteroid, and then adds the nasal antihistamine. So
`that is specifically talking about nasal antihistamines.
`Let's go to the next chart I had which is to
`make the point, Your Honor, that Dr. Kaliner's speech was in
`May 2002 and it was after all the art that plaintiffs are
`talking about here.
`Now, what, the point I was trying to get to here
`is I haven't put it on this chart, but our main prior art
`here are the Cramer patent application and the Segal patent
`application, which both specifically talk about oral and --
`not oral. Excuse me -- antihistamines that are nasal, that
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:18:27
`
`02:18:30
`
`02:18:34
`
`02:18:36
`
`02:18:40
`
`02:18:43
`
`02:18:48
`
`02:18:52
`
`02:18:55
`
`02:18:58
`
`02:19:02
`
`02:19:05
`
`02:19:10
`
`02:19:14
`
`02:19:18
`
`02:19:23
`
`02:19:25
`
`02:19:29
`
`02:19:34
`
`02:19:38
`
`02:19:39
`
`02:19:42
`
`02:19:47
`
`02:19:51
`
`02:19:58
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 13 of 100 PageID #: 5255
`845
`
`are sprays, and steroids that are nasal, that are spray,
`combined. That is Cramer and Segal. Both say that.
`And let me go to the next slide. This is the
`Cramer patent application by Proctor & Gamble back in 1997.
`So on our timeline, this would be closer to the
`critical date than most of the art that the plaintiffs rely
`on, and it specifically talks about nasal administration.
`And then it says, that, A, one of the steroids is fluticasone,
`our steroid here, and B is azelastine, the antihistamine and
`an intranasal carrier.
`So there is Cramer that specifically calls for
`the sprays, the exact combination that has been given here
`is taught in the art, and then there is also Segal, this was
`another patent application, specifically talks about you can
`see at the top, confirming, Your Honor, that we're talking
`about nasal compositions. And it says, one agent for
`topical administration, selected from the group consisting
`of, and antihistamines are included in that group.
`If you skip to the bottom excerpt, it says what
`the suitable antihistamines are, specifically teaches
`azelastine. Then the middle paragraph is about anti-
`inflammatory agents, meaning corticosteroids in this case,
`and specifically calls out fluticasone propionate as the
`corticosteroid.
`So, again, Segal teaches both the antihistamine
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:20:00
`
`02:20:04
`
`02:20:07
`
`02:20:12
`
`02:20:18
`
`02:20:22
`
`02:20:25
`
`02:20:29
`
`02:20:34
`
`02:20:39
`
`02:20:42
`
`02:20:44
`
`02:20:48
`
`02:20:53
`
`02:20:58
`
`02:21:00
`
`02:21:04
`
`02:21:09
`
`02:21:13
`
`02:21:16
`
`02:21:19
`
`02:21:24
`
`02:21:27
`
`02:21:33
`
`02:21:35
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 14 of 100 PageID #: 5256
`846
`
`and the corticosteroid in a nasal administration form, and
`those are the pieces of art that we rely on most prominently
`here.
`
`So if we go to the next slide.
`In summary, Your Honor, what you have here is
`every testifying physician in this case talking about using
`the guidelines to do the antihistamine, the nasal
`antihistamine and the nasal steroid plus prior art that says
`to do it, and virtually all of this came after the art that
`plaintiffs rely on to say that there is no benefit to the
`combination.
`
`So our position is that the most persuasive
`evidence in this case is what people out there actually
`did. And if you are looking for an interpretation of what
`all those articles that plaintiffs cite actually say, well,
`these people were the people that were out there acting
`on what was known in the art and what they did was they
`prescribed them together. So that is why we believe the
`evidence shows that azelastine, fluticasone, it was obvious
`to put them together.
`Now, there is another issue in that slide about
`putting them together in one bottle; and we agree that that
`is a separate, an additional issue here. It's not enough
`just to say that you'd administer them to the same patient
`for the same thing because the invention here is they say
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:21:38
`
`02:21:42
`
`02:21:46
`
`02:21:46
`
`02:21:49
`
`02:21:52
`
`02:21:58
`
`02:22:03
`
`02:22:07
`
`02:22:11
`
`02:22:15
`
`02:22:15
`
`02:22:19
`
`02:22:22
`
`02:22:27
`
`02:22:30
`
`02:22:33
`
`02:22:36
`
`02:22:41
`
`02:22:44
`
`02:22:45
`
`02:22:50
`
`02:22:54
`
`02:22:58
`
`02:23:02
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 15 of 100 PageID #: 5257
`847
`
`they put it into the same bottle.
`But, Your Honor, that again has already been
`done by the time of the critical date. Cramer did it, Segal
`did it. They did it, as I said, with the exact same drugs
`in the exact same form as had been done previously.
`So there isn't an issue about whether the art
`teaches one to make that combination. The art actually had
`made that combination before.
`And so what I would say, Your Honor, is there
`was logic to that. There was reason for that.
`I think we don't need to show more than Cramer
`and Segal. Segal actually used them together, but if there
`is a feeling that we need to do that, then there is common
`sense and teachings in the art that would get you to that
`point.
`
`THE COURT: Do you need to show that there was
`an appreciation or an understanding of a problem in the
`prior art that was solved by this combination?
`MR. LOMBARDI: Well, here -- I'm coming to that
`right now. And so the problem was compliance and convenience.
`And so what the person of skill in the art would know is that
`by putting the two forms, the two actives into one bottle, you
`are -- (bumping into mike.) Sorry, Your Honor.
`You are creating more convenience for the person
`who is taking the drug; and when it is more convenient, the
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:23:05
`
`02:23:07
`
`02:23:11
`
`02:23:16
`
`02:23:20
`
`02:23:24
`
`02:23:28
`
`02:23:31
`
`02:23:33
`
`02:23:37
`
`02:23:41
`
`02:23:43
`
`02:23:48
`
`02:23:51
`
`02:23:54
`
`02:23:54
`
`02:23:56
`
`02:23:59
`
`02:24:02
`
`02:24:05
`
`02:24:10
`
`02:24:14
`
`02:24:22
`
`02:24:23
`
`02:24:28
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 16 of 100 PageID #: 5258
`848
`
`odds are they're going to comply with what the prescription
`says are greater.
`So we have a couple of references on that.
`The Spector reference from 1998 is talking about
`nasal sprays, and it's talking about the importance of
`ensuring patient compliance. And so it says that the ideal
`therapy would be a drug, a single drug that possessed not
`only the antihistamine receptor, the antihistamine, that is
`what a H1 receptor antagonist is, but also antiinflammatory
`activity, steroids. So it is teaching for compliance
`purposes it should all be in one bottle, one treatment.
`The Segal reference that we talked about before
`says this right on its face. It says: "The use of multiple
`topical nasal preparations to administer multiple
`therapeutic agents suffers from significant disadvantages."
`So it's talking about the problem of multiple
`agents being administered in multiple preparations.
`And if you go to the second highlighting there, it
`says: "Another disadvantage of the administration of multiple
`topical nasal preparations is patient inconvenience. Patient
`compliance may be compromised by the invention of applying
`multiple spray products or nose drops."
`And so Segal itself teaches to make the
`combination. So it's the same lesson that Segal is teaching
`is applicable here and, in fact, here involves the exact
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:24:34
`
`02:24:36
`
`02:24:37
`
`02:24:40
`
`02:24:42
`
`02:24:45
`
`02:24:50
`
`02:24:54
`
`02:24:58
`
`02:25:04
`
`02:25:06
`
`02:25:13
`
`02:25:17
`
`02:25:21
`
`02:25:24
`
`02:25:28
`
`02:25:32
`
`02:25:37
`
`02:25:40
`
`02:25:43
`
`02:25:47
`
`02:25:51
`
`02:25:54
`
`02:25:59
`
`02:26:02
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 17 of 100 PageID #: 5259
`849
`
`same drugs or some of the exact same drugs that Segal deals
`with.
`
`Now, we also had an admission from
`Dr. Kaliner -- again, this is plaintiffs' expert -- that it
`would have been obvious to include compliance. This was an
`impeachment point, Your Honor. It is not what he said at
`trial but here is the impeaching evidence that is in the
`record:
`
`"Would it have been obvious to a person of skill
`in the art at that point in time that they could improve
`patient compliance by putting those two in one spray bottle?
`"I think you would have improved compliance,"
`said Dr. Kaliner.
`So, again, we think the art clearly teaches,
`clearly teaches that these two actives in this form nasal
`spray should be put together in one bottle. And, in fact,
`Your Honor, this probably would have been an anticipation
`case except for the existence of the excipients that are
`claimed and that makes it different; but I'm just saying
`for purposes of azelastine and fluticasone, it's really all
`there on the four corners of the art.
`And just to make this even more clear, and perhaps
`more, in a more straightforward real-world way, this is a trip
`summary that was created by a man named, I think you pronounce
`it "Fuge," who was a Meda employe who went over to Cipla. You
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:26:06
`
`02:26:10
`
`02:26:10
`
`02:26:14
`
`02:26:18
`
`02:26:22
`
`02:26:25
`
`02:26:28
`
`02:26:30
`
`02:26:32
`
`02:26:35
`
`02:26:38
`
`02:26:41
`
`02:26:42
`
`02:26:47
`
`02:26:53
`
`02:26:57
`
`02:27:01
`
`02:27:06
`
`02:27:08
`
`02:27:12
`
`02:27:13
`
`02:27:17
`
`02:27:24
`
`02:27:29
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 18 of 100 PageID #: 5260
`850
`
`may recall Cipla is actually the inventor on the patent and
`Meda is the exclusive licensee; and during the time they were
`talking about doing this deal, this licensing deal, Fuge,
`Mr. Fuge went over there and he talked to them about how
`did you come up with this idea for selecting azelastine
`fluticasone?
`
`And he said, in his own words -- this is how he
`characterized what the inventor told him: They selected the
`azelastine/fluticasone combo because it was obvious.
`So our position is that that is the logic of
`what the art teaches. It's what the art teaches. It's what
`people in the real world were doing. It's what Cipla said
`about their invention. So, therefore, we think that this
`part of the obviousness case has clearly been established.
`Now, Meda obviously makes some arguments to the
`contrary and they talk about being discouraged. People in
`the art would be discouraged from a fixed-dose regimen
`because a fixed dose regimen would not be as flexible. It
`would be, it would be fixed obviously. You couldn't tell
`the patient to take a specific amount of azelastine that
`might be different from what is in the bottle and a
`different amount of fluticasone than what is in the bottle.
`They say that reduced flexibility would have
`been a problem, and it would have been dosing differences
`which you and I, Your Honor, have talked about already.
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:27:36
`
`02:27:39
`
`02:27:42
`
`02:27:46
`
`02:27:49
`
`02:27:54
`
`02:27:54
`
`02:27:57
`
`02:28:01
`
`02:28:08
`
`02:28:11
`
`02:28:17
`
`02:28:19
`
`02:28:23
`
`02:28:29
`
`02:28:34
`
`02:28:40
`
`02:28:44
`
`02:28:49
`
`02:28:53
`
`02:28:56
`
`02:28:59
`
`02:29:02
`
`02:29:05
`
`02:29:07
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 19 of 100 PageID #: 5261
`851
`
`The problem with what they're saying, again,
`comes back to the fact that it was already done in the art.
`If there was discouragement, if the art
`discouraged people from doing a fixed-dose regimen, then
`you wouldn't have ended up with Cramer or Segal, the two
`prior art references that use the exact drugs in the exact
`form that we're talking about. They use exactly what we're
`talking about here.
`So any issues that plaintiffs are trying to
`create about dosing differences or reduced flexibility or
`side effects, anything like that, have already been overcome
`in the art because there is art that teaches these things.
`Now --
`THE COURT: They pointed to I think it was
`Shenfield as calling out flexibility, loss of flexibility
`being a real problem. Is it your contention that I couldn't
`even find that that would be a consideration that might
`discourage a person of skill in the art?
`MR. LOMBARDI: The way I would characterize it,
`Your Honor, it is clearly a consideration that you take into
`account.
`
`The reason -- and you might even think that
`without knowing more, it could discourage. But the fact is
`that it doesn't discourage because of Cramer and Segal going
`forward. But if you look at it from a logical standpoint,
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:29:10
`
`02:29:13
`
`02:29:19
`
`02:29:24
`
`02:29:28
`
`02:29:32
`
`02:29:35
`
`02:29:39
`
`02:29:41
`
`02:29:43
`
`02:29:49
`
`02:29:53
`
`02:29:55
`
`02:29:56
`
`02:29:58
`
`02:30:02
`
`02:30:07
`
`02:30:11
`
`02:30:13
`
`02:30:16
`
`02:30:19
`
`02:30:19
`
`02:30:22
`
`02:30:26
`
`02:30:31
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 20 of 100 PageID #: 5262
`852
`
`this gives -- it doesn't prevent doctors from prescribing
`more fluticasone or more likely more of the antihistamine
`azelastine if they wanted to. They could, they could have
`the bottle with whatever dose is in the bottle and they
`could supplement it with other things.
`So it is not something that would prevent one
`from going with this type of fixed regimen. And that is
`what the art establishes and Segal and Cramer has established.
`Now, what -- if you could move on back to 33,
`
`please.
`
`Now, what we end up discussing with Cramer and
`Segal but particularly with Cramer was plaintiffs tried to
`convince Your Honor that Cramer wasn't applicable here or
`wouldn't teach to use the combination here because they said
`it was inoperable.
`And so let's just start at the beginning, Your
`Honor. What is relevant here for the obviousness analysis,
`particularly the prima facie obviousness analysis, is what
`is in the prior art? What does the art say?
`And the art is Cramer on this point. And Cramer
`teaches that the combination would work and would work for
`its intended purpose.
`There is nothing in Cramer that teaches
`inoperability. And, in fact, we cite the Duramed case, Your
`Honor. The Duramed case says that for obviousness purposes,
`
`1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
`
`10
`11
`12
`13
`14
`15
`16
`17
`18
`19
`20
`21
`22
`23
`24
`25
`
`02:30:37
`
`02:30:39
`
`02:30:43
`
`02:30:48
`
`02:30:51
`
`02:30:53
`
`02:30:57
`
`02:31:03
`
`02:31:07
`
`02:31:17
`
`02:31:17
`
`02:31:20
`
`02:31:24
`
`02:31:28
`
`02:31:32
`
`02:31:35
`
`02:31:38
`
`02:31:42
`
`02:31:46
`
`02:31:49
`
`02:31:53
`
`02:31:58
`
`02:32:00
`
`02:32:02
`
`02:32:06
`
`

`

`Case 1:14-cv-01453-LPS Document 174 Filed 05/18/17 Page 21 of 100 PageID #: 5263
`853
`
`you don't have to have proof that it will be successful, and
`there are cases that even say that even something that says
`on its face it's inoperable can be a prior art reference and
`you take it for as much as it actually teaches.
`Well, here, Cramer doesn't teach that there is
`anything inoperable. And so the art is undisputed that
`Cramer teaches this combination.
`Now, a few notes about the inoperability
`evidence here. The only evidence that we have in this case
`about inoperability was done after the fact by people who
`frankly had an interest in the outcome. One was the Meda --
`excuse me, the Cipla inventor was trying to get the patent
`from the Patent Office and did some testing, and then was
`Meda's expert in this case who did some testing. But
`neither did the kind of testing that a person of skill in
`the art would have done.
`Maureen Donovan, Dr. Maureen Donovan was our
`expert on formulation. She said that those formulations and
`that testing came out the way first stabs at formulations
`always come out. And there are always things to tweak. In
`that instance, in both instances of the testing that was
`done, they were found to be, there was concern that they
`were too acidic, the formula was, and not isotonic, but
`those are the kind of things that Dr. Donovan said can be
`fixed and fixed

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket