The Hindu Business Line : A victory for Matrix Labs customers in Europe

IN yet another victory for customers of Matrix Laboratories Ltd in Europe, Danish pharmaceutical giant Lundbeck, the innovator of the anti-depressant blockbuster drug Citalopram, has withdrawn patent infringement cases against Ratiopharm and Destin Pharma in the European courts.

Matrix Labs has been supplying Citalopram in the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) form to two of its major generic customers in the European markets — Ratiopharm and Destin Pharma.

Following this, Matrix expects a significant increase in Citalopram exports to European markets, where it has already captured over 50 per cent market share for its bulk active form.

Interestingly, Citalopram contributed about 50 per cent of Matrix Labs' sales in the last fiscal year and 36 per cent during the nine-month period of the current fiscal ended December 31, 2003.

This is third major victory for Matrix's Citalopram customers in Europe, the first being the withdrawal of patent infringement litigation against Lagap Pharmaceuticals, a generics arm of Novartis, by Lundbeck in a London court in October last year. In this case, Lundbeck also withdrew its allegations of forgery and perjury made against Matrix Labs and its directors and employees.

In another case, European generic companies using matrix Labs' API won a patent-related case against Lundbeck in Denmark on January 26.

In a press release here on Thursday, Matrix Labs said it hopes to start exports of Citalopram API to the US by the middle of the current calendar year. The company said it has already filed the drug master file (DMF) with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Citalopram bulk active.

Further, many generic players planning to launch Citalopram in the US have also filed abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) based on Matrix's DMF. Keeping this in view, Matrix expects to play a significant role in the US market as a supplier of Citalopram API to generic players.

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