By Memorandum Order entered by The Honorable Sue L. Robinson, in Cephalon, Inc., et al. v. Sandoz Inc., Civil Action No. 10-123-SLR, the Court granted Cephalon’s motion to stay the proceedings in the instant action pending the Federal Circuit’s ruling on Cephalon’s appeal in the prior infringement action brought by Cephalon in the District of Delaware, at Civil Action No. 08-330, against Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Watson Laboratories, Inc. and Watson Pharma, Inc. (collectively, "Watson") which asserted infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,200,604 ("the ‘604 patent") and 6,974,590 ("the ‘590 patent") (collectively, "the Khankari patents") for Watson’s filing of its Abbreivated New Drug Application ("ANDA") with the Food and Drug Administation ("FDA") for generic fentanyl buccal tablets. Id. at 2.

In the Watson action, following a bench trial on the issues of infringement and validity, the Court found that Cephalon failed to demonstrate infringement by Watson and also found the Khankari patents invalid for lack of enablement. Id.  Cephalon appealed the Court’s ruling to the Federal Circuit.

In evaluating Cephlon’s motion to stay the proceedings in the Sandoz action, the Court noted that it has broad discretionary powers with respect to a motion to stay and courts are generally guided by three factors in ruling on motions to stay:  (1) whether the granting of a stay would cause the non-moving party to suffer undue prejudice from any delay or allow the moving party to gain a clear tactical advantage over the non-moving party; (2) whether a stay will simplify the issues for trial; and (3) whether discovery is complete and a trial date set. Id. at 3-4.  After considering the factors present, the Court determined that the first two factors strongly favored the issuance of a stay in the Sandoz action and, thus, granted Cephalon’s motion to stay.  Id. at 4.

A complete copy of the Court’s Memorandum Order is attached hereto.