Drug Patents Don't Bar Rival Research

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court gave drug companies more freedom to develop new disease-fighting therapies, ruling Monday that rival firms' patents do not bar them from starting research on competing medications. The unanimous ruling set aside a lower-court ruling for patent holder Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. It means that major pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Pfizer Inc. can start experiments sooner, leading to faster drug development, perhaps billions in savings and lower costs for consumers.