AstraZeneca has taken Lupin to New Jersey Court over Nexium—the company’s anti-ulcer blockbuster, claiming non-infringement on 5 Nexium. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Vikar Dandekar of pharmasianews.com spoke on his take on the issue.

Here is a verbatim transcript:

Q: Can you put this in perspective, why would AstraZeneca want to get into this new round now?

A: That is what most of the legal experts are also trying to ascertain as to the timing of this particular case AstraZeneca has picked up and Lupin has also challenged that through the para IV certification, a bunch of four-five patents that Lupin feels are non-infringing and that is the reason why it claimed that it can enter the markets.

Having done that AstraZeneca has taken Lupin to the New Jersey district court and the case has not yet come up. The filing was done on October 21. Interestingly, in April 2008, Ranbaxy and AstraZeneca did have very comprehensive landmark deal so that the entry of generic Esomeprazole can be delayed till 2014, the earliest time when AstraZeneca’s patent for Nexium expires.

Q: As an observer of this scene, what would you think would be Lupin’s triggers, do you think they could have a very strong case, what can be the next follow through of this case?

A: In the last two years, Lupin has settled no less than four to five patents. First go ahead, challenge and then enter into a settlement, Effexor XR, Desloratadine, Ramipril and bunch of other filings. All of these have probably been a very positive trigger for Lupin to go ahead and make this a proper business model. So either they enter the market late through a settlement or they get an upfront for the delayed launch. So we don’t know about Nexium’s merit but that is definitely stood very strongly for Lupin in terms of giving them a clear revenue model. We don’t know exactly what the attorneys of Lupin have found in bursting this particular Nexium patent. We will probably be able to understand in the next few weeks.

Q: If it does go Lupin’s way then what sort of a market opportunity would they be looking at through Nexium?

A: Huge. That will be massive; USD 6 billion in worldwide sales of which 65-70% will be definitely coming from the US. If you get a six-month exclusivity, maybe it will be shared with Ranbaxy presuming that they will be able to get through. It will be the very big revenue again for Lupin.