Pfizer, Ranbaxy deal would delay generic Lipitor

[flashl]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday that Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd (RANB.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) can begin selling a U.S. generic form of its Lipitor cholesterol fighter by late 2011 under a settlement deal, some five months later than Wall Street expectations.

Industry analysts have long expected Lipitor's U.S. marketing exclusivity to lapse no later than June 2011, and for cheaper generic forms of the world's best-selling drug to then immediately flood U.S. drugstores.

But under Pfizer's settlement with India's Ranbaxy, which has long challenged Lipitor's patents in the courts, U.S. patients will not have access to Ranbaxy's copycat product until November 30, 2011.

...

Asked if the delay could spark a backlash among patients and insurers who favor cheaper generics, David Reid, Pfizer's acting general counsel, said: "We're pleased with this settlement and we actually think it is pro-patient, pro-competitive and pro-intellectual property."

Reuters

[Jim__]

1. "...and we actually think it is pro-patient..."

That just about says it all.

[TZ]

2. There are generics available already actually

Sivistatin I believe. And its similar to Lipitor I think.

[varkam]

3. How, exactly, is such a maneuver "pro-patient"?

:crazy:

[TZ]

4. I'll say this

Pfizer is one of the worst of the worst out there and is one of the companies thats done its best to give the rest of us a bad name..
Much more interested in selling Viagra than in investing in new areas of research...:mad:
In fact there is a big market for anti-Pfizer products amoung us professionals..."Pfired" is worn by a lot of ex-employees.