Pfizer: Ranbaxy Lipitor patent challenges have no effect

Pfizer has said that Ranbaxy’s latest challenge to its patent for Lipitor, the world’s best-selling drug, will not affect the company’s ability to protect the Lipitor brand from a generic launch of the drug.

Yesterday, Pfizer announced that Ranbaxy, an Indian-based generic pharmaceutical company, was successful in overturning two Norwegian patents concerning atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor.

The world’s largest pharmaceutical company said it planned to appeal against the ruling, adding that its Lipitor patents in other major European markets were valid until 2011.

Ranbaxy said the Norwegian court’s ruling has wider significance as it “significantly validates” the company’s position regarding Lipitor patents.

Jay Deshmukh, Ranbaxy’s senior vice-president of global intellectual property, stated: “We will continue to actively pursue all of our options in Norway and other markets in order to bring affordable atorvastatin to patients around the world.”

Ranbaxy has challenged Lipitor patents with varying results in several countries, including Romania, Peru, the US and Austria. Most recently, Pfizer successfully defended a challenge on Lipitor rights in the UK, although it did lose the patent for a calcium salt of atorvastatin – something that has “no commercial relevance”, the company said.

Pfizer has previously said it will “vigorously contest” Lipitor patent challenges that “seek to undermine Pfizer’s mission of creating value for patients and investors through biomedical innovation”.

With the prospect of decreased revenues when Lipitor patents expire within the next ten years, Pfizer’s chief executive, Jeffrey B Kindler, stated that the company must become more “agile and entrepreneurial” in order to meet future challenges.

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