Rhoxalpharma had alleged that its omeprazole product, developed by Andrx, would not infringe AstraZeneca's formulation patents for Losec®. The court found on the evidence that RhoxalPharma's allegation of non-infringement was not justified and therefore prohibited the Minister of Health from giving RhoxalPharma marketing approval for the generic product until expiry of the both formulation patents in June 2009. Omeprazole is the active ingredient in Losec®.

"As a result of AstraZeneca's purpose and resolve when it comes to asserting patent rights, there is still no generic competition in Canada, despite the fact that the patent for the active substance, omeprazole, expired in July 1999," said Dr. Martin Nicklasson, Executive Vice President, GI Franchise.

In Canada AstraZeneca has several patents covering Losec®, among those are patents for salts, formulations and uses, and intends to fully enforce its patent rights. These patents expire between 2007 and 2014. AstraZeneca uses the trade name Prilosec® for Losec® in the US.