NEW YORK, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pfizer Inc said today the United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal has upheld the exclusivity of the main patent covering atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor.
The appellate court ruling affirms a lower court decision in October 2005 that found a proposed Ranbaxy generic would infringe Pfizer’s basic Lipitor patent (EP 247,633). The appellate court’s decision prohibits Ranbaxy from introducing a generic version of atorvastatin in the UK before the expiration of the basic patent in November 2011, subject to a possible further appeal to the House of Lords.
Pfizer Vice Chairman and General Counsel Jeffrey B. Kindler said: ‘We are pleased with the appellate court decision, which affirms the lower court ruling on our basic patent for Lipitor. This decision is consistent with the fundamental principle that patents exist to support the work of medical innovators pursuing discoveries that benefit current and future generations of patients around the world.”
The appellate court ruled invalid a second patent covering the calcium salt of atorvastatin (EP 409,281), which expires in July 2010 and therefore has no commercial relevance in the UK.
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CONTACT: Bryant Haskins of Pfizer Inc, +1-212-733-8719
Web site: http://www.pfizer.com/
