Duke University sues Elan over Zonegran as Weightloss Drug

In what promises to be an interesting case, Duke University, joined by Orexigen Therapeutics of Princeton, NJ, has filed sued against Elan concerning a patent application filed on May 2, 2003 by Julianne Jennings, an Elan product manager. Duke had filed a similar patent application.

The patent application of Jennings, 20040029941, was published Feb. 12, 2004. Some of the claims are as follows:

1. A method of reducing weight in an overweight subject, said method comprising: administering to an overweight subject a pharmaceutical composition comprising zonisamide, in an amount effective to reduce weight in said subject, wherein said weight loss is significant and sustained.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said effective amount of zonisamide is in the range of about 50 to about 1000 mg/day.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said effective amount of zonisamide is in the range of about 100 to about 600 mg/day.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said overweight subject is an obese subject

See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5353413/.