Lipitor is No. 1, but faces generic threat

When does good news feel almost bad? When a blockbuster drug is deemed the juiciest on the market--but the wolves are circling.

If this sounds like Lipitor to you, you're right. Today, the Pfizer drug was declared number one in the U.S. market with $9 billion in 2004 sales (rival Zocor pulled a trailing second with $4.7 billion). Also today--as if to emphasize the possible loss of this multibillion-dollar revenue stream--a Canadian court denied Pfizer's request to stop Indian generics maker Ranbaxy Laboratories from making one form of the drug.

Ranbaxy, of course, is the company that successfully challenged [1] the drug's U.S. patent last year. Pfizer subsequently applied for a reissued patent, which would protect its exclusive rights to Lipitor through 2011. The company was denied (but not conclusively; the patent office called it a "non-final" rejection). No doubt Pfizer will continue building up its Lipitor defenses--but the generics makers will continue to circle, too.

- see Pfizer's release [2]
- and Rabaxy's release [3]
- read more [4] on drug-sales rankings

ALSO: At this week's Bear Stearns Healthcare Conference, Pfizer told analysts that its future rests with biologics. Article [5]

Related Articles:
Investors cheer Lipitor patent decision. Report [6] 
Generic battle looms for Lipitor. Report [7]
Pfizer, Ranbaxy get mixed ruling in Lipitor patent fight. Report [1]
Pfizer halts Torcetrapib development. Report [8]