Friday, June 27, 2008

Pfizer leads a massive patent pack

By Brendan Lynch

Pfizer Inc., which has been struggling to resolve the coming loss of patent protection for its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, holds the most life sciences patents in New England over the last five years, according to research by Mass High Tech.

Pfizer has registered 843 patents since January 2003, almost double the amount registered by No. 2 Boehringer Ingelheim Corp., which secured 454. Pfizer has global R&D operations in Connecticut and Cambridge, while Boehringer Ingelheim has a facility in Ridgefield, Conn.

Abbott Laboratories, whose Bioresearch Center is located in Worcester, leads the pack for 2008, with 36 patents registered. Runner-up Boehringer Ingelheim has filed 33 this year, and Pfizer and Amgen Inc. — which has a facility in Cambridge — are tied for third with 30.

Donald Ware, a partner at Foley Hoag LLP and chair of its intellectual property group, said the market protection given by patents is crucial for investors to realize a return in an industry where it takes about $800 million to move a product through development, clinical trials and FDA approval, and most of the candidates don’t get approved.

“Patents are the life blood of life sciences companies,” he said.

Last week, New York-based Pfizer reached an agreement with India-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. for Ranbaxy to delay its generic version of Pfizer’s cholesterol drug, Lipitor, giving Pfizer extra time to come up with a post-Lipitor market strategy.

Lipitor’s main patent expires in March 2011.

Ware said the high number of patents registered is critical for all large pharmaceutical companies, including life sciences giant Pfizer.

“A company like Pfizer has to be looking 20 to 30 years ahead,” he said.