The Russian Supreme Court has allowed the release of a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Forxiga

The Russian Supreme Court has upheld the right of pharmaceutical company Akrikhin to manufacture a generic version of AstraZeneca’s diabetes drug Forxiga in Russia (international nonproprietary name: dapagliflozin). Although patent protection for the drug has been extended until 2028, several pharmaceutical companies have already registered generic versions, including Akrikhin, which registered its product in 2023 and began production, arguing that the key patents for dapagliflozin had entered the public domain and could therefore be freely used to manufacture generics.

Lawyers interviewed by RBC note that the court’s decision will affect ongoing legal disputes between AstraZeneca and other manufacturers of Forxiga generics. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies have gained a new pathway to secure rights to use other patent-protected drugs, which could lead to an increase in such disputes, warns Sergey Zuykov, Managing Partner of Zuykov and partners. Although Akrikhin was formally allowed to manufacture its generic as early as December 2025, the company obtained the “actual right” to produce it only after the Supreme Court’s ruling, the expert says. Given the number of patent disputes surrounding Forxiga, all market participants understood that only the Supreme Court would deliver the final word on the matter, Sergey Zuykov explained.

Source: RBC