Patricia J. Pascual, Pfizer public affairs director, told reporters they have already filed a case against Unilab before the Makati Regional Trial Court and hopes to get a court injunction against the Filipino drug company.Aside from selling its generic drug equivalent Avamax to independent drug stores, Pascual said that Unilab has been detailing the drug already to doctors.
Pascual said that the most that Unilab should have done is wait for the decision of the IPO before they start marketing its generic drug equivalent.
“We want Unilab to practice fair competition either they let the 2012 patent expire or wait for the IPO to come out with a decision,” she said.
Lipitor was a target of generic drug companies because Atorvastatin, the generic name where the Lipitor brand falls under, has a huge local market. Earlier, Pfizer also sued another drug company for selling Ator, another generic drug equivalent of Lipitor.
While Unilab is marketing Avamax, it has also filed a case before the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines seeking to “invalidate”
Unilab accounts for 25 percent of the entire anti-cholasterol drug market locally Simvastatin and Atorvastatin . It is selling the generic drug Vidastat for Simbastatin, which patent already expired.
But, while Pfizer is not the leader in the anti-cholesterol drug its Lipitor brand is the most-prescribed anti-cholesterol drug because of its “lipid reducing compound”, making it the most effective medicine in reducing cholesterol levels and is being used in clinical tests.
Pascual, however, said that Amavax has no impact yet on its Lipitor sales but with the implementation of the Medicine Drug Retail Price (MDRP), the company’s business has been substantially affected with sales being reduced by 40 percent.
(Edited by Mark Anderson)
