In his previous judgment, Justice Pumfrey ruled that Ranbaxy would not be able to distribute its generic version of the world’s best-selling drug in the UK, as the main patent covering the drug was still valid. However, he also ruled that another patent covering the drug was invalid.
Both companies have now been given permission to appeal the rulings against them. The outcome of the appeals is expected by the end of 2006.
“Having already been successful in invalidating one of the two key Pfizer patents relating to atorvastatin in the UK, Ranbaxy is encouraged to have been granted the opportunity to make its case on the infringement decision on the other patent before the UK Court of Appeal,” said Malvinder Singh, president of Ranbaxy. “We remain committed to our objective of bringing an affordable generic formulation of atorvastatin to the National Health Service in the UK.”