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Pfizer defends Lipitor patent until 2011

Date published: 15/12/2005

Pfizer has won an injunction against India-based generic manufacturer Ranbaxy over cholesterol drug Lipitor, also known as atorvastatin. Ranbaxy had planned to introduce a generic version of the drug, but was blocked on Friday by a US federal judge who upheld two of Pfizer's patents. The ruling will last until 2011. Ranbaxy plans to appeal.

The firm's efforts to produce generic versions of the Pfizer's lucrative drug have also been blocked in the UK. In October, the High Court upheld Pfizer's exclusive rights over atorvastatin's basic patent, but also said that Ranbaxy was not infringing another patent related to the drug.

Jeffery B Kindler, general counsel of Pfizer, defended the firm's patents: "No generic company would make this commitment, and research-based companies would have no incentive to pursue this work without a stable patent system."

But Ranbaxy remained "undeterred" by the ruling. "We will press our case in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," said Ranbaxy executive director Malvinder M Singh.

"We are committed to bringing lower cost, reliable medicines to healthcare systems, worldwide." He told Reuters on Saturday that the ruling would not affect the company's overall business plan.

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