Published on January 28, 2007 at 1:21 PM
Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited announced that the Federal Court of Canada has handed down a favorable decision in the company's case against Pfizer by finding invalid Pfizer's Canadian atorvastatin patent CA 2,021,546.
Atorvastatin is a cholesterol- lowering drug which is marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor.
The Honorable Justice von Finckenstein dismissed Pfizer's application to deny issuance of a Notice of Compliance (NoC) as regards Pfizer's Canadian patent CA 2,021,546, finding the patent invalid for not, "correctly and fully describing the invention." The Minister of Health Canada was ordered not to issue an NoC until expiry of the other contested Pfizer patent (CA 1,268,768) which is May 7, 2007. The Court's ruling followed a hearing in Toronto which took place from January 8th to 11th, 2007. Specifically, Justice von Finckenstein found that the, "false suggestion of a ten-fold increase in activity cannot be backed up by the data provided."
Jay Deshmukh, Ranbaxy's Senior Vice President - Global Intellectual Property, noted, "We are pleased with this decision as it stands, as it allows the entry of Ranbaxy's generic atorvastatin in Canada upon marketing approval."
http://www.ranbaxy.com/