British court rejects Ranbaxy's patent challenge on Lipitor

A UK Court of Appeal has upheld the exclusivity of the main patent covering atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Pfizer's Lipitor.

The court ruling affirms a previous court decision in October 2005 that found a proposed Ranbaxy generic would infringe Pfizer's basic Lipitor patent (EP 247,633). The appeal court's decision prohibits Ranbaxy from introducing a generic version of atorvastatin in the UK before the expiration of the basic patent in November 2011, but is subject to a possible further appeal to the House of Lords.

However, the court ruled invalid a second patent covering the calcium salt of atorvastatin (EP 409,281), which expires in July 2010.

Ranbaxy said it was evaluating the decision and would decide on its course of action shortly.