Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drugmaker, said Wednesday it won a court ruling in the Netherlands preventing Indian rival Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. from releasing a generic version of the company’s cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor.
The District Court of The Hague found that the basic patent covering atorvastatin — the active ingredient in Lipitor — would be infringed by a generic version of the treatment, Pfizer said in a statement. The decision, which is subject to appeal, prevents Ranbaxy from introducing a generic version of Lipitor before Pfizer’s patent expires in November 2011.
