amended complaint did not cure the deficiencies identified in the amended complaint. On October 9, 2020, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and on January 25, 2021, the plaintiffs filed an appellate brief challenging the March 27, 2020 judgment, the September 9, 2020 judgment, and other court orders. On April 23, 2021, the Company filed a response brief in the Second Circuit appellate proceeding. On May 14, 2021, the plaintiffs filed a reply brief. On December 9, 2021, oral argument was held in the Second Circuit. On June 16, 2022, the Second Circuit entered a summary order affirming the order of the District Court dated September 9, 2020.
Separately, on December 1, 2017, a purported shareholder demand was made on the Company based on substantially the same allegations as those set forth in the securities case above. Also, on January 5, 2018, a follow-on derivative suit, styled Davis v. Pruzanski, et al., was filed in New York state court by shareholder Gregg Davis based on substantially the same allegations as those set forth in the securities case above. The derivative litigation was stayed pending the exhaustion of all appeals relating to the dismissal of the securities case. Following exhaustion of such appeals, on October 7, 2022, the parties stipulated to and agreed to a discontinuance of the derivative suit. On February 7, 2023, the court marked the case as disposed of due to the discontinuance.
Patent Litigation
The Company has received paragraph IV certification notice letters from seven generic drug manufacturers indicating that each such manufacturer submitted to the FDA an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) seeking approval to manufacture and sell a generic version of the Company’s 5 mg and 10 mg dosage strengths of Ocaliva® (obeticholic acid) for PBC prior to the expiration of certain patents listed for Ocaliva in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (the “Orange Book”).
The seven generic drug manufacturers and when we received their initial paragraph IV certification notices are as follows: (1) Apotex Inc. (“Apotex”) (July 2020), (2) Lupin Limited (“Lupin”) (July 2020), (3) Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York, LLC, as U.S. agent for Amneal EU Limited (collectively, “Amneal”) (July 2020), (4) Optimus Pharma Pvt Ltd (“Optimus”) (July 2020), (5) MSN Pharmaceuticals Inc. and MSN Laboratories Private Limited (collectively, “MSN”) (July 2020), (6) Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc., and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd. (collectively, “Dr. Reddy’s”) (December 2020), and (7) Zenara Pharma Private Limited (“Zenara”) (August 2022).
Each paragraph IV certification notice alleged that the challenged Orange Book patents were invalid, unenforceable, and/or would not be infringed by the commercial manufacture, use, or sale of the generic products described in the generic manufacturer’s respective ANDA. In each case, within 45 days of receipt of the paragraph IV certification notice, the Company initiated a patent infringement suit against the generic manufacturer in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
We have entered into settlement agreements with Apotex, Lupin, Amneal, Optimus, MSN and Dr. Reddy’s. Those settlements fully resolved the patent infringement case in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware that was scheduled for trial on February 27, 2023, and the case was terminated by the District Court. Separate patent litigation against Zenara remains pending in the District of Delaware, with trial scheduled for July 22, 2024. Under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the “Hatch-Waxman Act”), the FDA cannot grant final approval of the Zenara ANDA before the earlier of February 8, 2025 or a court decision in its favor. Under the terms of the six settlement agreements, the Company granted each of the manufacturers a non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable, royalty-free license to commercialize a generic version of Ocaliva in the United States commencing on a specified date, or earlier under certain circumstances. The earliest such specified date agreed to is September 1, 2031 (for Apotex).
These patent proceedings are costly and time-consuming, and successful challenges to the Company’s patents or other intellectual property rights could result in the Company losing those rights in the relevant jurisdiction, and could allow third parties to use the Company’s proprietary technologies without a license from the Company or its collaborators. While the Company intends to vigorously defend and enforce its intellectual property rights protecting Ocaliva, the Company can offer no assurances regarding when patent lawsuits such as the Zenara lawsuit will be decided, which side will prevail, or whether a generic equivalent of Ocaliva could be approved and enter the market before the expiration of the Company’s patents without license from the Company.