Pharmaceutical giant and Viagra manufacturer Pfizer has won a patent infringement case against a competing company, preventing it from selling a generic version of the popular treatment.
Pfizer stood to lose its patent at the end of 2012, allowing competitors to replicate the popular erectile dysfunction treatment into safe and usable generics. However, a recent ruling by a federal court has extended the patent Pfizer holds over Viagra until October 2019; specifically against pharmaceutical company Teva who they had been in legal dispute with over the validity of the patent.
Viagra has long been the most popular, and most recognizable, impotence treatment in terms of usage and sales, far outstretching competitor medications like Cialis or Levitra. Global sales are estimated to be around $2 billion, in 2010 alone, for the product which explains the company??s ferocity in defending its ownership.
Pfizer already stands to lose ownership and market exclusivity of several other drugs, notably Lipitor which is a cholesterol medication and one of the largest sellers worldwide attributed with nearly $11 billion in sales. Therefore this ruling against Teva, and the upholding of Viagra for Pfizer??s sole manufacturing and distribution, presents an important financial consolidation for the company.
At present Revatio, a lower dosage treatment of Viagra, used for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) is still set to have its patent expire in 2012. It??s also been used by hikers and mountaineers to reduce the chances of altitude sickness and the possible dangers that that involves.
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