The US court of Appeals for the Federal Court has invalidated a patent by Teva Pharmaceuticals for drug Copaxone. It is the second time that the US court of appeals has reviewed Teva’s patent.

In January, the US Supreme Court voted 7-2 that the Court of Appeals has not used the correct approach in rendering its 2013 decision of invalidating the patent. Owing to which, the case was being sent back to the US Court of Appeals to reconsider its judgement.

Teva spokeswoman said that they will try each and every legal method, even to look out for further appellate review. The decision over patent protection could open a way for the rival companies to come up with their generic version.

Increased litigation has helped Teva, which continued to sell the drug without any competition from other manufacturers. Many companies have been developing generic forms of Copaxone. Teva’s patent mainly covered the way the drug is manufactured.

The decision will help Natco and Mylan to launch their drug quite earlier than September 2015. Patent of Teva’s Copaxone 20 mg version will expire in September 2015. After the news, shares of Natco Pharma increased by as much as 7.87% on Friday.

“We believe that the news is also positive for Natco which can now launch the drug before September 2015 if it receives the final USFDA nod in the coming months”, stated Hitesh Mahida, research analyst at Antique Stock Broking Ltd.

Main thing was how the district court has taken a specific term in the patent. The appeals court has not accepted the interpretation and invalidated the patent, reported Reuters.