LONDON (AP) -- GlaxoSmithKline PLC says U.S. patent litigation over the Omega-3 Lovaza drug has been settled, allowing generic drug company Apotex to eventually bring a competitor to market.
Glaxo said Wednesday that Norway's Pronova BioPharma, which supplies the heart medicine to Glaxo, has reached a deal that gives Apotex the right to sell a generic version of Lovaza in the U.S. from the first quarter of 2015 -- or earlier, depending on "certain circumstances" it did not name.
Glaxo says financial terms of the settlement are confidential.
Pronova is still involved in Lovaza lawsuits with Teva Pharmaceuticals and Par Pharmaceutical.
Glaxo holds the U.S. marketing rights for the drug, which generated sales of 530 million pounds ($851 million) in the U.S. and Puerto Rico last year.