Pfizer wins legal case to keep Viagra patent

Global drug giant Pfizer has won a legal case preventing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) from producing generic versions of its impotence drug Viagra.  

A US court ruled the patent Pfizer holds for Viagra is valid until 2019, stopping any other companies from manufacturing unbranded versions.

The decision is likely to come as a huge boost to Pfizer, as sales of Viagra earn the company approximately $1 billion in US revenues alone.

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Amy Schulman, the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Pfizer, said about the ruling: “We are pleased that the court recognised the validity and enforceability of our Viagra patent for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.”

 “Protecting the intellectual property rights of our innovative core is critical, and Friday's court decision acknowledges Teva's clear violation of our patent rights.”

Within the next two years Pfizer is due to lose the patent on some of its best-selling pharmaceuticals and drugs, resulting in a huge loss of revenue for the company.

In November Pfizer will lose the exclusive rights to Liptor, its best selling cholesterol drug.

As a result of the imminent expiry of patents, Pfizer has had to cut funding in research and new drug development to help it to cope with the reduction in revenue.