US Court of Appeals upholds two main US patents on Pfizer's Celebrex

World drug giant Pfizer says that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the two main US patents covering Celebrex (celecoxib), its selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine for pain and inflammation. The patents had been challenged by world generics giant Teva. The Court ruled that the patents covering the active ingredient and a pharmaceutical composition thereof are valid, enforceable and infringed by the generic manufacturer's product. In the same decision, the Court ruled that a third patent covering the use in the treatment of inflammation was invalid. The decision prohibits Teva from launching a competitor drug in the USA until May 2014. Either party may request a rehearing by the Court of Appeals or a review by the Supreme Court. Celebrex was approved by the US regulator in 1998. Its domestic sales totaled $1.7 billion in 2007.