Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Company: Date Argued: February 11th, 2026, Docket Number: 25-2125

Case Summary:In the case of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Eli Lilly and Company (Docket No. 25-2125), argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on February 11, 2026, the relevant facts are as follows:The litigation centers on a breach of contract claim involving a 2018 settlement agreement between Teva and Eli Lilly regarding the osteoporosis drug Forteo (teriparatide).Under the terms of the 2018 settlement, Eli Lilly provided covenants not to sue and agreed to waive certain exclusivity rights to allow Teva to market a generic version of the drug.The factual dispute arose in 2019 after Eli Lilly's primary patents for Forteo expired, but the company subsequently obtained a new three-year regulatory exclusivity period from the FDA for pediatric safety studies.Teva alleges that Eli Lilly breached the settlement agreement by failing to notify the FDA of the waiver or take steps to relinquish this new monopoly right, which effectively blocked Teva’s generic entry until November 2023.Eli Lilly contends that its obligations under the settlement were tied strictly to the life of the patents and that the agreement did not prevent it from seeking or enforcing separate, post-patent regulatory exclusivities.In July 2025, a district court judge in Indiana dismissed Teva’s suit, finding that the "plain meaning" of the settlement agreement released Eli Lilly from its obligations once the specific patents identified in the contract expired.The appeal, docketed as 25-2125, challenges the trial court's interpretation of the contract, with Teva arguing that the ruling renders the "business sense" and "intent" of the settlement meaningless by allowing a perpetual monopoly through regulatory loopholes.During the oral arguments on February 11, 2026, the appellate panel focused on whether the settlement's silence regarding future regulatory exclusivity should be interpreted in favor of the patent holder or the generic competitor.