Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL) has announced that the Federal Patent Court of Germany located in Munich, handed down a favourable decision for Ranbaxy in its case against (Pfizer) Warner-Lambert's European Patent 409 281 (281), invalidating all relevant claims of this patent. EP 281 covers the enantiomer calcium salt of atorvastatin which is a cholesterol-lowering drug marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor with annual sales of US $13.7 billion (IMS - MAT: June 2007).

"This is an important milestone for Ranbaxy as it reinforces and validates yet again our position in relation to this patent," said Jay Deshmukh, senior vice president, global intellectual property for RLL.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, India's largest pharmaceutical company, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy's continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research.

The company's foray into Novel Drug Delivery Systems has led to proprietary "platform technologies," resulting in a number of products under development. The company is serving its customers in over 125 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 49 countries and manufacturing operations in 11 countries.