Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc. · ¶13

These provisions do not foreclose the possibility that an approved ANDA may still interfere with a patented method of use. Because a generic drug is, by definition, “biologically equivalent to . . . the brand-name drug,” Caraco, 566 U. S., at 405, medical professionals routinely prescribe (and pharmacists routinely dispense) the former interchangeably with the latter, including for patented methods of use, see Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc., 456 U. S. 844, 847, n. 4 (1982). They do so with the blessing of their States’ generic substitution laws, which, depending on the State, permit or require providing the cheaper generic version to patients. See, e.g., Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §562.008(b) (West 2018) (permitting); Fla. Stat. §465.025(2) (2025) (requiring).

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