Pfizer & Ranbaxy Kiss & Make Up on Lipitor & Caduet Patents
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Ranbaxy Laboraories of India have settled their Lipitor patent litigation. The companies have entered into an agreement to settle substantially all of their patent litigation worldwide involving Lipitor.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ranbaxy will have a license to sell generic versions of Lipitor and Caduet in the United States effective November 30, 2011. The lawsuits between Pfizer and Ranbaxy over Lipitor and Caduet will be dismissed in the specified countries and Ranbaxy will drop its contesting of the validity of Pfizer’s patents in the specified countries. The agreement provides a license for Ranbaxy to sell generic versions of Lipitor on varying dates in seven additional countries on top of the U.S.: Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Australia.
The settlement will also resolve patent litigation with Ranbaxy over Accupril in the United States and Viagra in Ecuador.
The patent infringement litigation between Pfizer and Ranbaxy relating to Lipitor will continue in five other European countries: Finland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Romania.
Jon Ogg
June 18, 2008
Big Pharma vs. Indian Generics, The Plot Thickens (PFE, TEVA, MYL)
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you thought that Big Pharma drug companies being under fire because of generic drugs, the issues may about to be getting much more convoluted. There are reports that Pfizer may try to make an acquisition offer for a majority stake in the Indian generic giant Ranbaxy. This would be a counter-bid or counter-fight since Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo’s recent plan to spend up to $4.6 Billion to acquire a majority stake in Ranbaxy.
What is interesting is that Ranbaxy is India’s biggest drug maker. To make matter more complicated, Ranbaxy has been involved in many cases globally over launching generic versions before Pfizer’s patents expire on Lipitor as a cholesterol treatment. Ranbaxy may launch a generic version of Pfizer’s Lipitor as soon as 2010, although this will vary greatly depending on which country it pertains to.
The fighting between generic drug makers and name brand makers is an endless one. Teva Pharmaceutical industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) recently saw a huge hit to its stock because of a generic MS drug out of Mylan Labs (NYSE: MYL) of Teva’s blockbuster Copaxone. Guess where the generic is going to be made….. Mylan teamed with NATCO Pharma, out of India. The irony here is that Teva’s lion share of revenues come from generic drugs that it makes of other Big Pharma labels. The sword cuts both ways.
The wars with generics and Big Pharma makers are only going to get worse and are only going to get more complicated. Throw in the biotech angle and the recent moves where Big Pharma companies have been acquiring biotechs for their prized pipelines. Stay tuned.
Jon Ogg
June 13, 2008
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