Thursday, October 19, 2006

Pfizer's '909 patent removed from litigation with Mylan over amlodipine

Norvasc for high blood pressure faces patent expiry in 2007. In a different set-back to Pfizer, a ruling from U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania removes the '909 as a patent that Pfizer can assert against Mylan in a case scheduled to start Nov. 28. Amlodipine Besylate is the generic name for the compound in Pfizer's Norvasc, the proprietary drug.

Pfizer's Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey B. Kindler said:

"As a critical step in our transformation, we are taking a comprehensive look at our costs, and in 2007 we plan to implement a new company-wide cost- reduction initiative that will lower our cost base in 2007 and 2008, as well as give us greater flexibility to modulate our expenses in the face of changing market conditions. These savings will be over and above the $4 billion projected annual cost savings by 2008 from our Adapting to Scale (AtS) productivity initiative. These and other actions mean we expect to deliver average annual growth in adjusted diluted EPS(1) in high single digits over 2007-08. We will focus on enhancing total return to shareholders, and we will leverage our unsurpassed financial strength to enhance our dividend and buy back our stock. For 2009, we expect a return to revenue growth, as the impact of our major patent expirations recedes and the strong performance of a wide range of new products becomes much more prominent in the marketplace."

**
Mr. David Shedlarz cited Pfizer's recent transactions to illustrate the company's growth strategy through external sourcing. "In the past five weeks alone, Pfizer made three major new investments -- licensing agreements with TransTech Pharma Inc. and Quark Biotech Inc. and an agreement to acquire PowderMed Ltd.," Mr. Shedlarz said. "These are only the most recent of 18 major transactions executed during the past 22 months. And they are only the beginning, as we leverage our unmatched therapeutic breadth and seek out opportunities in new areas. However, as aggressively as we are pursuing these opportunities, we are also exercising financial discipline to ensure that every transaction offers a strong rate of return.

**In terms of relative sales:
LIPITOR 3,321
NORVASC 1,208

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