Lipitor is Pfizer’s flagship product with estimated annual sales of $13 billion.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; LSE: PFZ) has scored another success in its drive to block competition to its ethical cholesterol drug, Lipitor. After securing a ruling in a US court postponing the launch of generic versions of Lipitor until March 2010, a court in Canada has now issued a similar ruling.
Pfizer announced on Friday that Canadian Federal Court in Toronto has granted its application for an order preventing Teva subsidiary Novopharm Ltd. from launching a generic version of Lipitor until expiration of the product's patent in July, 2010. However, Teva’s investors were not overly surprised by the news, and the decision is subject to appeal.
Lipitor is Pfizer’s flagship product with estimated annual sales of $13 billion, one quarter of Pfizer’s total revenue. Moreover, the drug is gaining in popularity in light of the increasing awareness about high cholesterol among older American adults, and the extension of health insurance cover because of it.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 10, 2006
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