UPDATE 1-Allergan says court affirms patent loss to Sandoz on eye drug

Allergan Inc said on Friday that it had lost its appeal in a patent battle with Novartis AG over its Sandoz division's rival version of Allergan's Combigan eye drug and said it would file a petition to for a rehearing of the case. Allergan said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas' earlier decision that the Sandoz rival did not infringe two of Allergan's patents and reversed a decision on a third patent in favor of Novartis.

‘That should be illegal’: Lawmakers are taking aim at pharma…

'That should be illegal': Lawmakers are taking aim at pharma giant Allergan over an unusual deal with a Native American tribe In September, Allergan struck an unusual deal with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe to transfer patents of the eye drug Restasis, a move that gives the drug sovereign immunity from certain patent challenges. Lawmakers aren't too happy about the deal, and Senator Claire McCaskill has introduced a bill to close the sovereign immunity "loophole."