Ordering the NHS to provide prescribing and dispensing guidance for branded and generic products

Abstract

This case provides useful guidance to generic companies launching a product with a skinny label, where patented indications have been carved out. Warner-Lambert obtained an order for NHS England to cascade prescribing guidance to enable prescribers and pharmacists to avoid patent infringement, but also to remove any objections to the generic launch. This demonstrates that the utility of a second medical use patent in preventing generic entry may be rather limited.