In a significant judgment, a US appeals court has invalidated the patent of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries on its multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone.

``The US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit has again found Teva’s U S Patent No. 5,800,808 (the 808 patent) for Copaxone to be invalid as indefinite,’’ the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma said in a release issued here on Friday.

Natco’s scrip zoomed 5.58 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange to end at Rs 2,192.30 on Friday.

The judgment ends the ongoing patent dispute and Natco is now awaiting the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval to launch the product.

According to agency reports, the 2-1 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the nation's top patent tribunal, was a blow to Israel's Teva in its seven-year fight against two generic drugmakers — Novartis AG's Sandoz unit and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc and another involving Mylan Inc and Natco Pharma Ltd — over patent protections for Copaxone.

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