Zyprexa

Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.Analyst Zach Wagner believes Lilly has little to worry about with the Wagner, who covers Lilly for St.

Louis-based Edward Jones, said patent challenges have become common for any successful pharmaceutical product."Challenges are common, but successful ones are pretty rare," he said.Standard & Poor's analyst Herman Saftlas agreed.

He said it takes a while for Wall Street to become concerned over patent litigation."Until there's an official trial date, I don't think anyone starts to worry about these things," he said.

Even so, Lilly's patent-defense record sports a big blemish.

The company lost patent protection in 2000 for its then-best seller, Prozac, during an appeal.Lilly introduced Gemzar to the U.S.

market in 1996 as a treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.

It has since received approval for treatment, in combination with other drugs, of non-small-cell lung cancer and advanced breast cancer.Gemzar ranked fifth among Lilly drugs with $586 million in domestic sales in 2005.

The drug rang up $1.3 billion worldwide last year, second in Lilly's product portfolio only to While Read more...