Amarin loses patent appeal and their brief grip on a cardiovascular, fish oil empire

Amarin’s briefly-held fish oil empire has slipped from its grasp, and now appears gone for good.

A US federal appeals court refused on Thursday to overturn a March ruling that stripped the Irish drugmaker of its patents on the fish oil-based heart drug Vascepa, opening the door for generic alternatives to hit the market. The ruling means that Amarin’s chance of turning an expanded approval from last December into blockbuster revenues has essentially vanished.