Pfizer used an old legal strategy in defending its Nigerian trial of an experimental meningitis drug: Discredit the witness. One key piece of evidence against the drug giant is a government report from its investigation of the trial. The very official who led that investigation, Abdusalami Nasidian, was opposed to the Trovan trial from the get-go, Pfizer says. He even showed up at the hospital and tried to stop it. So how could he conduct an objective investigation? The judge didn't buy it. The report stays, with the court planning to reconvene October 29.
You'll recall that Pfizer is accused of running an unauthorized trial that resulted in the deaths of 11 children and permanent injuries to others. Pfizer says the trial was conducted legally and ethically.
Meanwhile, Pfizer won a victory in Spanish appellate court; a judge upheld the patent on Lipitor's active ingredient. The patent had been challenged by generics maker Lek Pharmaceuticals.
- see the report on the Nigerian trial
- read the news release on the Lipitor patent case