PFIZER'S NORVASC DOES NOT INFRINGE ON SYNTHON'S PATENT, JURY RULES

Pfizer has received good news in a patent suit involving how it makes its top-selling hypertension drug Norvasc, the company said Aug. 17.

A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unanimously ruled that Pfizer's process for making amlodipine, the active ingredient in Norvasc (amlodipine besylate), does not infringe on a patent held by Synthon.

The jury also found the patent invalid on multiple grounds.

Synthon, a U.S. subsidiary of Dutch company Synthon BV, filed the patent lawsuit against Pfizer in November 2005. Norvasc generated $2.34 billion in sales during the first half of 2006 and is the most prescribed hypertension drug in the world, Pfizer said.