Actavis Confirms Appeals Court Ruling Requiring Continued Distribution of Namenda IR

Actavis has confirmed that a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a ruling upholding a 15 December 2014 preliminary injunction requiring the company to continue distribution of Namena (memantine HCl) immediate-release tablets.

"While we are disappointed by the Court's decision to uphold this ruling, we intend to continue our strong efforts to convey the significant benefits of Namenda XR to physicians, patients and caregivers," said Brent Saunders, CEO and President of Actavis. "Patient demand for Namenda XR is currently trending at more than 50% of the total product line's days of therapy and growing, underscoring the strong physician, patient and caregiver demand for our once-daily product."

"We have also recently launched once-daily Namzaric, a fixed-dose combination of Namenda XR and donepezil that provides another treatment option for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease.  Since the launch of Namenda XR in 2013, the two medications, Namenda XR and donepezil, have been commonly prescribed in combination with one another to treat the symptoms of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. Namzaric offers an option with the benefits of both treatments, while reducing the number of pills a patient and their caregivers need to administer each day, to treat this disease."

Actavis noted that the company will continue to manage sales and R&D expenses to ensure that the Appeals court's decision will have minimal to no impact on its 2015 Namenda franchise contribution to earnings and longer term company earnings aspirations.