GSK Advair patent re-issuance
Executive Summary
GlaxoSmithKline will apply for re-issuance of Advair patent no. 5,270,305, which expires in September 2010. The decision "follows an internal review which concluded that the language in the patent may not accurately describe all of the circumstances of the invention and may not claim the invention as precisely as it could," GSK says. The patent covers salmeterol and fluticasone as a combined treatment for asthma. GSK expects to file an application with the patent office within several weeks, and predicts the process will take one to two years...