08:13 AM EDT, 08/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Novartis' ( NVS ) statement in the fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

Novartis AG ( NVS ) was unable to convince a federal court to stop MSN Pharmaceuticals from launching its own version of the company's heart-failure drug Entresto, a court decision issued on Monday showed.

MSN's version of Entresto was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on July 24, after which Novartis ( NVS ) asked the court on Aug. 2 for a preliminary injunction to block MSN's launch.

US District Judge Richard Andrews in Delaware ruled that Novartis ( NVS ) was unlikely enough to win its patent-infringement lawsuit challenging the generic to justify halting MSN's launch.

However, Andrews placed a three-day hold on the case and temporarily asked MSN not to sell the drug while Novartis ( NVS ) appeals to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In an emailed statement to MT Newswires, a Novartis ( NVS ) spokesperson said that the company is considering its options to "vigorously defend" its intellectual property rights.

"The Delaware District Court has granted Novartis ( NVS ) time, during which MSN cannot launch at risk, to seek an injunction from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit based on our Entresto combination patent and/or amorphous complex patent," the spokesperson said. "Any launch at this time would be at risk of later litigation developments."

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