[Commons-Law] Patent row: Pfizer sues Ranbaxy

[Ram]

A probable sign of the times ahead for India!


>From Business Standard:

Patent row: Pfizer sues Ranbaxy

Alleging infringement of its patent on Accupril with annual sales of
$550mn, Pfizer has taken Ranbaxy Laboratories to court in the US,
alleging infringement of its patent on Accupril (generic name:
quinapril), an anti-hypertensive with annual sales of $550 million.

Teva of Israel had launched generic quinapril made by Ranbaxy in the
US in December 2004.

The Ranbaxy spokesperson was not available for comment, though senior
company functionaries confirmed the lawsuit had been filed. Repeated
calls to Ranbaxy's US office yielded no response.

A CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets report said Pfizer filed the lawsuit in
the district court of New Jersey on January 28, claiming Ranbaxy's
quinapril formulation contained an ingredient that led to the
infringement of a process patented by it.

It is learnt Pfizer has patented the use of lactose and
microcrystalline cellulose for the stabilisation of quinapril.

Otherwise, it can degrade while tableting. In its lawsuit, Pfizer has
claimed the quinapril made by Ranbaxy also uses microcrytalline
cellulose, which is an infringement of its patent. Ranbaxy is yet to
file a reply to the charges.

It is worth noting that Teva had earlier challenged the same process
patent, which is valid till 2007. But the patent was upheld. Teva had
gone on appeal against the decision. This prompted Teva to launch
Ranbaxy's quinapril in the US. It is known to have captured a market
of over 40 per cent since then.

Other pharmaceutical companies are also known to have launched their
quinapril in the market.

About three years ago, Ranbaxy had also filed a patent application on
stablising pharmaceutical compositions of ACE inhibitors like
quinapril.

Ranbaxy's patent claims that one of the agents the company would use
is microcrystalline cellulose. However, it is not clear if this patent
has been granted.

Quinapril is not the only product over which Pfizer and Ranbaxy are
locked in a legal battle. Ranbaxy has also challenged patents held by
Pfizer on Lipitor, the world's largest selling drug with an annual
turnover of $10 billion.

Source: Business Standard