Bayer wins EU patent extension for best-selling Xarelto drug

[October 29, 2021]  BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayer on Friday said the European Patent Office had maintained the company's patent for its best-selling stroke prevention pill Xarelto (rivaroxaban), extending the patent's expiry date by almost two years.

Bayer said several drugmakers had opposed the drug's patent but the EU authority extended Bayer's intellectual property rights until January 2026.

The decision will prevent almost all EU countries and certain non-EU states, such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland, from launching rivaroxaban, which is intended to be administered once a day, as a generic drug.

"Bayer welcomes the positive decision strengthening the patent and will continue to vigorously defend its intellectual property," the German drugmaker said in a statement.

Bayer's 2020 drugs business was shored up by strong prescription growth in Xarelto, which made 4.515 billion euros ($5.26 billion) in revenues and continued to grow in the first half of 2021.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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