"Desperate" Warner-Lambert slaps Pfizer with lawsuit over Lipitor deal

The struggle for control of Warner-Lambert stepped up a gear immediatelyafter the Thanksgiving break, as the Morris Plains, New Jersey-based firm slapped an expected lawsuit on hostile-bidder Pfizer in an attempt to end their co-marketing deal for the blockbuster lipid-lowerer Lipitor (atorvastatin; Marketletter November 29). W-L's move into the courts is the latest chapter in a series of legal challenges, which was initiated by Pfizer, once it learnt that W-L had agreed to merge with American Home Products.

W-L said it filed the counterclaim as a result of Pfizer's "massive and intentional breaches" of the companies' marketing agreement on the drug. Chief executive Lodewijk de Vink said the company is asking the court to confirm that "Pfizer's intentional disregard of its contractual obligations has given us the right to bring this relationship to an end and reclaim all rights to Lipitor for W-L and our shareholders." He went on to say that "Pfizer cannot commit flagrant breaches of contract, as it has, and expect to continue to receive the fruits of this relationship."

The basis of the counterclaim is that Pfizer "has repeatedly mis-stated the terms of the standstill restrictions to which it agreed in the Lipitor agreements" and that the actual language used shows that Pfizer breached the agreement when it made its proposal to acquire W-L "and in its subsequent actions." Furthermore, the New York-based major is accused of using confidential information "for the purpose of deciding to make, and pricing, its bid."