MMD's Cardizem (diltiazem)

Executive Summary

Marion Merrell Dow and its supplier of bulk diltiazem, Tanabe Seiyaku, file complaint with the International Trade Commission against at least eight foreign and U.S. firms MMD says have violated Tanabe's process patent for bulk diltiazem. Among the firms named in the complaint are Profarmaco Nobel, an Italian producer, and Mylan, its U.S. customer; Copley Pharmaceutical and its Finnish supplier Orion Corp. Fermion and ABIC Ltd., a subsidiary of Israeli firm Teva, which MMD says "supplies diltiazem to various companies." Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, which is already in litigation with MMD ("The Pink Sheet" Feb. 22, T&G-8) is also named in the ITC complaint.