Ranbaxy Successfully Invalidates Atorvastatin Patent In Austria

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Statins
Article Date: 26 Apr 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Ranbaxy) said that a five-judge panel of the Supreme Patent and Trademark Board of Austria (OPM) has unanimously affirmed an earlier ruling of the Austrian Patent Office, invalidating claims 1-3 (all claims sought by Ranbaxy to be invalidated) of Pfizer's Austrian Patent AT 207896, covering Atorvastatin calcium (Lipitor®).

On March 29, 2005 the Patent Office had ruled AT 207896 invalid for lack of novelty over Pfizer's International Patent Application PCT/US89/00719, published as WO 89/07598 and lack of inventive step over United States Patent No. 4,681,893.

"We are pleased with the decision rendered by the Supreme Patent and Trademark Board of Austria," said Malvinder M. Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Ranbaxy. "Our success further validates our strategy to successfully commercialize Atorvastatin in Austria, and potentially other healthcare markets in the future. It is anticipated that this will have a positive impact on healthcare costs, by providing a high quality, generic alternative at affordable prices."

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, headquartered in India, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy's continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research. The Company's foray into Novel Drug Delivery Systems has led to proprietary "platform technologies", resulting in a number of products under development. The Company is serving its customers in over 125 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 49 countries and manufacturing operations in 7 countries.

http://www.ranbaxy.com