Pfizer patent for Lipitor ingredient upheld in British court

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 28 - Pfizer Inc. said the United Kingdom's Court of Appeal upheld the exclusivity of the main patent covering atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor.

This latest ruling affirms a lower court's October 2005 decision that found a proposed Ranbaxy generic would infringe Pfizer's basic Lipitor patent (EP 247,633).

As a result, Ranbaxy is prohibited from introducing a generic version of atorvastatin in the United Kingdom prior to the basic patent's expiration in 2011.

A second ruling by the appellate court found a second patent covering the calcium salt of atorvastatin, which expires in July 2010, to be invalid.

New York City-based Pfizer develops and markets prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

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