Generic Lipitor: Hard Target

The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Ranbaxy over a judge’s ruling that information withheld by Pfizer during a Lipitor patent case was immaterial. The Supreme Court, without comment, turned down arguments from Ranbaxy to block a patent term extension for the U.S. 4,681,893 (the ‘893 patent) that protects Lipitor through March 2010. Ranbaxy argued that Pfizer forfeited its right to an extension as Pfizer withheld information when the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office extended one of the patents for more than three years. However, Pfizer urged the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal. Moreover, Pfizer has also approached federal patent examiners to re-issue the U.S. 5,273,995 (the ‘995 patent) that would prevent generic penetration until June 2011.