(Reuters) - Merck & Co on Tuesday said it will proceed with its planned $8.4 billion (5.3 billion pounds) purchase of Cubist Pharmaceuticals and still expects the deal to boost its long-term earnings, despite a court ruling that could speed the arrival of generic forms of Cubist's top-selling product.
MERCK (MRK.NY)late on Friday had announced plans to buy Cubist, whose flagship product is the widely used antibiotic Cubicin for skin infections. The deal would give the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker entry into the market for drugs that fight so-called superbugs.
But U.S. District Judge Gregory Sleet in Delaware on Monday invalidated four Cubicin patents and ruled that Hospira Inc
Merck, in a release on Tuesday, said it still expects to complete its purchase of Cubist in the first quarter of 2015, and noted that Sleet's decision "is subject to appeal."
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson)
