Canadian Court Finds Infringement of Lipitor Crystal Form Patent
NEW YORK -- Pfizer Inc said today that the Canadian Federal Court in Toronto has ruled that Pfizer’s patent covering a crystalline form of atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor, would be infringed by Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited’s process for making their proposed generic atorvastatin product.
The court granted the company’s application for an order preventing Ranbaxy from launching its product until expiration of the patent (Canadian Patent No. 2,220,018) in July 2016. Ranbaxy may seek to appeal this decision.
The court denied the company’s application for a prohibition order in connection with a second patent covering a process for making amorphous atorvastatin (Canadian Patent No. 2,220,455), which also expires in July 2016.