NEW YORK, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pfizer Inc announced today that a Spanish court is the latest judicial body to uphold the company’s patents covering the active ingredient in Lipitor, the world’s most-prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication.
Pfizer said the Court of First Instance in Madrid has ruled that the claims of Pfizer’s patent covering atorvastatin are valid and enforceable. The company was defending a lawsuit brought by Ratiopharm Espana S.A. (Ratiopharm), which can appeal the decision. The patent at issue in the lawsuit (EP 409,281) expires in July 2010 and is subject to other pending challenges in Spain. Lipitor is sold in Spain under the brand names Zarator and Cardyl.
Pfizer Vice Chairman and General Counsel Jeffrey B. Kindler commented: “The Spanish court decision is important for Pfizer and other medical innovators who invest in high-risk research to develop life-saving medicines for millions of patients.”
Pfizer also has won major Lipitor patent challenges recently over generic manufacturer Ranbaxy Ltd. both in the United States, on December 16, and in the United Kingdom on October 12. In addition, Pfizer received a favorable patent decision against Ranbaxy in Norway on November 9. Further, Pfizer received on December 16 a favorable ruling upholding the validity of its crystalline form atorvastatin patent in Peru where Ranbaxy has been enjoined from selling its product.
In another ruling this week, the Andean Court of Justice in Quito, Ecuador ruled that a challenge to the patentability of Pfizer’s Venezuelan Lipitor patents covering the crystalline form of atorvastatin and a process for making atorvastatin were without foundation and dismissed the case. The Andean court decision protects Pfizer’s Lipitor patents in Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela from any future challenges under Andean Pact law and is not appealable.
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