Poor Amarin ($AMRN) and its still unrealized hopes for its fish oil cholesterol pill, Vascepa. A U.S. appeals court has paved the way for generic versions of blockbuster Lovaza, which GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Pronova BioPharma sell, but the news undercut the much smaller Amarin, which has been trying hard to get traction for its own omega-3 drug.

Amarin shares were down 6.75% in mid-afternoon trading. According to The Wall Street Journal, an appeals court in Delaware overturned a case that had favored Pronova's patent infringement claims made when Par Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries ($TEVA) filed for generics in 2009. Pronova was picked up earlier this year by Germany's BASF, which has been making a big move into omega-3 manufacturing.

Pronova had actually fought off another generics maker in 2011 when it reached a deal to allow Apotex to sell its copycat version beginning in the first quarter of 2015, or earlier under certain circumstances. Analysts at the time thought that deal might influence other generic drugmakers to try to settle. If the court's ruling stands, it means generics may hit later this year or early next year, the Journal reports, which is bad news for GSK and now BASF, but also could create a price consideration that makes it harder on Amarin. The Journal points out that Leerink Swann analyst Joseph Schwartz waved off much concern, saying that benefits, not price, will be the big seller.