Pfizer to settle patent disputes with Ranbaxy

Global drug giant Pfizer has entered an agreement to settle most of its patent disputes with Indian generics manufacturer Ranbaxy. This ends five years of legal disputes over Pfizer's principal drug, blockbuster cholesterol-lowerer Lipitor (atorvastatin). Ranbaxy will gain the rights to market the first legal copy-version of atorvastatin worldwide. Malvinder Mohan Singh, chief executive of Ranbaxy told the UK Financial Times that his firm may be able to begin marketing the drug in Canada by the end of this year. Best of all, Ranbaxy will gain 180-day exclusivity on its copy version in the US market as the first to produce the generic drug, once its license to do so begins in 2011. The Indian company is in the process of being acquired by Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, but Pfizer is rumored to be considering a counter-offer (Marketletter June 16).