Pfizer wins patent challenge on Celebrex

Pfizer has announced that it has won a patent challenge brought to court by Teva Pharmaceuticals regarding its selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex.

Teva had challenged the three US patents covering the pain and inflammation treatment, with the relevant copyrights covering the method of use, pharmaceutical composition and active ingredient for the drug being upheld by Judge John C Lifaland.

According to the judge’s ruling, the claim from Teva that Pfizer’s patents are an observable variant of previous invention does not stand up to scrutiny, Bloomberg news reports.

“The decision, which may be appealed, prevents Teva from launching a competitor drug in the US until December 2015,” the company reports.

Reuters reports that Pfizer filed a lawsuit against Teva in February 2004, following a move by the Israeli firm to seek permission from regulatory authorities to sell a generic form of Celebrex.

In November 2006, Pfizer announced that it had reached an agreement with Teva regarding the sale of generic forms of its cancer medication Idamycin and antibiotic Zithromax.

According to the terms of this agreement Teva will pay Pfizer a sum of up to $70 million (35.69 million pounds), with the firm also being granted an option to sell its own generic form of cancer drug epirubicin before its patent expiring in August 2007.