The Hindu Business Line : Ranbaxy gets mixed verdict on Pfizer’s Lipitor in Australia

New Delhi, May 28 In a partial victory for Ranbaxy Laboratories in its patent litigation against Pfizer, an Australian court has ruled in favour of the Indian company in a case relating to Atorvastatin, the world’s largest selling cholesterol-lowering drug (marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor).

The court at the same time also ruled that a proposed Ranbaxy generic product under a different patent infringed Pfizer’s basic Lipitor patent.

The Federal court had ruled that one of Pfizer’s patents was invalid for inutility, false suggestion and misrepresentation in obtaining the grant of Australian patent.

Mr Jay Deshmukh, Ranbaxy’s Senior Vice President-Global Intellectual Property, noted, “We are pleased with this decision as it stands, as it advances the entry of Ranbaxy’s generic atorvastatin in Australia to May 18, 2012.”

The ruling, the culmination of a lawsuit filed in 2005 by Ranbaxy, preserves Lipitor’s patent coverage in Australia through May 2012. Ranbaxy can appeal the decision.

‘We will defend’

“The Australian decision will not impact ongoing Lipitor patent actions in other countries, including the US. It will continue to vigorously defend against challenges to its intellectual property,” Pfizer said in a statement.

Earlier, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had rejected Pfizer’s appeal to re-issue patent for its $13-billion anti-cholesterol drug, Lipitor, in the US. This meant that Ranbaxy can launch its own low-cost version of the world’s largest selling drug in March 2010, in the US.

Ranbaxy Laboratories is the first generic company to challenge Pfizer’s patent for Lipitor. With the USPTO rejecting Pfizer’s appeal, Ranbaxy can now launch a similar drug and sell it for 180 days without any competition from generic companies from March 2010.

USPTO’s decision is not final and Pfizer can apply again for the patent.