Pfizer's Wyeth unit is seeking $960 million in damages from Sun Pharmaceutical for alleged patent infringement following the launch of a generic version of Protonix (pantoprazole) in the US, the Indian company said. Sun Pharmaceutical indicated that it "believes that it has sound reasons to disagree with these overstated claims of Wyeth, and also continues to believe that the patent is invalid and unenforceable."

In late 2007 and early 2008, Teva and the Indian drugmaker launched generic versions of Protonix "at risk," as the companies at the time were party to a patent infringement lawsuit filed in the US District Court in New Jersey by Wyeth and the original patent holder, Takeda's Nycomed unit

. In 2010, a US district court upheld the validity of the patent on Protonix, which expired in January 2011. The court ruling opened the way for damage claims against Sun Pharmaceutical and Teva, despite the companies withdrawing their generic products from the market.

SMC Global Securities analyst Souvik Chatterjee noted that Wyeth's suit seeks sales lost due to Sun Pharmaceutical’s entry in the market, litigation costs and other damages relating to Protonix.

The Indian drugmaker said it will now provide its own assessment on the purported damages, following which the court will decide on whether there has been patent misuse and determine the appropriate level of damages. Sun Pharmaceutical noted that according to Wyeth, Teva may be liable for a portion of the damages.

All the parties in the litigation will likely "reach an out of court settlement between $400 to $600 million," Chatterjee remarked. "We are of the opinion that any penalty for Protonix sales will adversely impact Sun Pharma earnings in fiscal 2013," the analyst added.

 

 

 

(Ref: The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BusinessWeek)