NEW YORK, March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Forest Laboratories, Inc.
(NYSE: FRX) announced today that a Notice of Final Determination was received
from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by H. Lundbeck A/S, Forest's
licensor, in connection with the patent term extension application for U. S.
Patent No. Re. 34,712. The patent covers the composition of matter for
Lexapro(R) (escitalopram oxalate) an SSRI approved for the treatment of Major
Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder in adults. The period of
extension has been determined to be 828 days. With the 828 day extension, the
'712 Patent will expire on September 14, 2011 (without the additional 6 months
exclusivity provided by the pediatric indication). The patent term will run
until March 14, 2012 with both the pediatric extension and the patent term
extension.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/FORESTLOGO )
Except for the historical information contained herein, this release
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because these statements involve a
number of risks and uncertainties, actual future results may differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand
for new pharmaceutical products, challenges relating to intellectual property
protection, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely
development and launch of new products and the risk factors listed from time
to time in Forest Laboratories' SEC reports, including its Annual Reports on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005 and Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q for the periods ended June 30, 2005, September 30, 2005 and December
31, 2005.
SOURCE Forest Laboratories, Inc.
CONTACT: Charles E. Triano, Vice President-Investor Relations of Forest
Laboratories, Inc., 1-212-224-6714
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Web site: http://www.frx.com
(FRX)