[Ip-health] Hindu Bus. Line Story on Philippines Norvasc Lawsuit

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/04/11/stories/2006041102840200.htm

Pfizer worried over parallel import of Norvasc into Philippines

April 11,2006
P.T. Jyothi Datta
Hindu Business Line

To stop the drug being imported from countries such as India

Pfizer sells amlodipine besylate in global markets including the
Philippines under the brandname Norvasc.

Mumbai , April 10

Pfizer Inc has a problem with the import of generic versions of its
anti-hypertension drug Norvasc into the Philippines. And some of this
problem stems from India.

Last month, the multinational drug major filed a suit in the Philippines
to stop the Government from importing generic versions or copies of
Norvasc into the country from markets such as India, said an attorney
tracking the development.

Pfizer Inc sued the Philippine government-owned company PITC (Philippine
International Trading Corporation) and the Philippines regulatory
authority BFAD (Bureau of Food and Drugs), confirms Ms Judit Rius
Sanjuan, a staff attorney with the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech).

The trigger being the Philippines authorities' intention to obtain early
regulatory approval on generic Norvasc so that it could be imported from
India or Pakistan when the Philippines patent on Norvasc expires in
2007, she explained. CPTech tracks medicine access and IPR-related
issues, among others.

Less priced

Pfizer sells amlodipine besylate in global markets including the
Philippines under the brandname Norvasc. In India, Pfizer sells the drug
under the name Amlogard, at a price much less than in the Philippines,
the lawyer said.

No information was available from Pfizer in India on who was exporting
generic versions of Norvasc to the Philippines. But Pfizer Inc in an
e-mailed response to Business Line said: "... the matter is currently
before the courts in the Philippines, and we cannot provide details
except to say that Pfizer is seriously concerned about the situation on
two fronts, namely; the potential threat to patient safety and public
health in the Philippines and secondly, the infringement of a Pfizer
Norvasc patent in that country."

Parallel trade

CPTech's attorney points out that Pfizer's suit is to delay parallel
trade of Norvasc. Parallel trade is when a product is bought in a
country where prices are cheaper, and imported into a country where
prices are higher. The Philippines permits parallel trade only after
patents expire. Pfizer charges different prices in the Philippines and
India on the drug, she points out.

Quoting a contact person in the Philippines, the attorney further
observes that Pfizer is likely to face similar parallel import problems
on its blockbuster Lipitor (atorvastatin), among others.

But a multinational company representative in India observed that
parallel imports into other countries from India does not augur well for
the image of the local drug industry. Especially so, since the new
patent regime in India protects product patents.