Pfizer Victorious in Norvasc Case Against Synthon IP

Pfizer announced in a recent press release that a jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has found that Pfizer does not infringe Synthon IP's patent on a process for making amlodipine, the active ingredient in Norvasc.  The jury also found Synthon's patent invalid.  Norvasc, a treatment for hypertension, is Pfizer's second largest selling product after Lipitor, with $4.7 billion in annual sales.

The patents-in-suit were U.S. Patent Nos. 6,653,481 (process patent) and 6,858,738 (compound patent; a divisional of the '481).  The court construed the claims of these patents in a June 30 Markman ruling.

According to Pfizer's press release, Pfizer not only published its process for making amlodipine, but Pfizer has been using that process for the last 15 years.