Candian Court prohibits sale of generic Celebrex

The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal has reversed an earlier ruling under which local drug manufacturer Novopharm had been permitted to launch a generic version of Pfizer's anti-inflammatory Celebrex (celecoxib). The appellate court issued an order prohibiting regulatory approval of the copycat drug until the current Celebrex patent expires in late 2014. Last month, Pfizer won a similar ruling in the USA, which prevented Israeli pharmaceutical firm Teva from launching a competitor product until patent expiry in December 2015 (Marketletter March 26).