Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Ranbaxy) announced on Wednesday that a five-judge panel of the Supreme Patent and Trademark Board of Austria (OPM) has unanimously affirmed an earlier ruling of the Austrian Patent Office, invalidating claims 1-3 (all claims sought by Ranbaxy to be invalidated) of Pfizer's Austrian Patent AT 207896, covering Atorvastatin calcium (Lipitor).

According to a press release by the company, the Patent Office had ruled on March 29, 2005 AT 207896 invalid for lack of novelty over Pfizer's International Patent Application PCT/US89/00719, published as WO 89/07598 and lack of inventive step over United States Patent No. 4,681,893.

"We are pleased with the decision rendered by the Supreme Patent and Trademark Board of Austria," said Malvinder M. Singh, chief executive officer and managing director of Ranbaxy. "Our success further validates our strategy to successfully commercialize Atorvastatin in Austria, and potentially other healthcare markets in the future. It is anticipated that this will have a positive impact on healthcare costs, by providing a high quality, generic alternative at affordable prices."

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, headquartered in India, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy's continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research.

(www.ag-ip-news.com)