Healthcare Industry News: Ranbaxy Laboratories
News Release - May 29, 2007
Pfizer Will Immediately Seek to Appeal Lipitor Patent Ruling in Norway
Decision has no bearing on Lipitor patent challenges in other countriesNEW YORK--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Pfizer Inc. said today that it will immediately seek to appeal a ruling by the Borgarting Court of Appeal in Oslo, Norway that four of Pfizer's patents covering Lipitor are either invalid or not infringed by a proposed generic atorvastatin calcium product from Ranbaxy Laboratories. The Supreme Court of Norway will determine whether to hear the appeal.
The Court of Appeal ruled that three Pfizer patents covering intermediate compounds used to make atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor, would not be infringed by the sale of a Ranbaxy generic product in Norway. The court also ruled that Pfizer's patent covering a process for converting crystalline atorvastatin calcium to amorphous atorvastatin calcium is invalid. The patents expire between February 2009 and July 2016.
"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," said Pfizer's Senior Vice President and General Counsel Allen Waxman. "But we are confident that, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear our appeal, we will be able to make a compelling argument in support of our patents." Waxman pointed out that this ruling has no bearing on Lipitor patent challenges pending in other countries, including the United States.
Source: Pfizer
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