Ranbaxy, Pfizer settle Lipitor patent case

GURGAON, India and PRINCETON, N.J. Ranbaxy Labs has entered into an agreement with Pfizer to settle patent litigation over the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, India’s largest drug manufacturer announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Ranbaxy will get market exclusivity for 180 days in the U.S. from Nov. 30, 2011 to market a generic version of Lipitor. In 2003, Ranbaxy began challenging Pfizer’s patent for the basic compound of the drug, which expires in 2010.

Lipitor, known generically as atorvastatin, had sales of $12.7 billion in 2007, according to Ranbaxy. Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo announced last week that it would purchase a majority stake in Ranbaxy.