PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Ranbaxy) announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) handed down a judgment in its case challenging two key atorvastatin patents held by Pfizer. Atorvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering drug, marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor(R), and is the largest-selling drug in the world with estimated annual sales in the U.S. of USD 8.5 Bn (IMS - MAT: March 2006).
CAFC sided with Ranbaxy by invalidating one of Pfizer’s atorvastatin patents, U.S. Patent No. 5,273,995 (‘995) and overturning Delaware District Court judgement in that regard. However, it affirmed the portion of the judgement, which held that Ranbaxy’s product infringes Pfizer’s U.S. Patent No. 4,681,893 (‘893). The ruling followed a hearing in the U.S. CAFC, which took place May 4, 2006.
Commenting on the decision, Jay R. Deshmukh, Senior Vice President, Global Intellectual Property for Ranbaxy said, “We are pleased by the Courts decision on the ‘995 patent and are evaluating our options with respect to the ‘893 patent.”
Subject to the appellate process and market authorization by the U.S. FDA, Ranbaxy now has the opportunity to bring the launch date forward to March 2010 from June 2011 with 180-day exclusivity in the U.S. market.
Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, headquartered in India, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy’s continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research. The Company’s foray into Novel Drug Delivery Systems has led to proprietary “platform technologies”, resulting in a number of products under development. The Company is serving its customers in over 125 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 49 countries and manufacturing operations in 8 countries.
Contact details, USA Ranbaxy Inc., Princeton, NJ Media calls: Chuck Caprariello +1 609 720 5615 Mobile +1 609 462 7354 e-mail: chuck.caprariello@ranbaxy.com Robert Ferris RF Binder Partners, Inc +1 212-994-7505 Mobile: +1 201-888-5234 e-mail: robert.ferris@rfbinder.com Anuj Baveja RF Binder Partners, Inc +1 212-994-7552 Mobile: +1 551-587-2233 e-mail: anuj.baveja@rfbinder.com
Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited
CONTACT: Chuck Caprariello of Ranbaxy, +1-609-720-5615, Mobile+1-609-462-7354, chuck.caprariello@ranbaxy.com; or Robert Ferris,+1-212-994-7505, Mobile: +1-201-888-5234, robert.ferris@rfbinder.com, orAnuj Baveja, +1-212-994-7552, Mobile: +1-551-587-2233,anuj.baveja@rfbinder.com, both of RF Binder Partners, Inc., for Ranbaxy
Web site: http://www.ranbaxy.com//
