Farewell time for world’s largest selling chartbuster pharmaceutical brand Lipitor®: What next after November 30, 2011
About Authors:
Dr. Amit Gangwal,
Smriti College of Pharmaceutical Education,
Indore
Introduction
Lipitor® is the best-selling drug ever, accounting for $106 billion sales over the last decade. Two generic drug manufacturers are ready to compete starting December 1, 2011. Watson Pharmaceuticals is making a generic version authorized by Pfizer under a profit-sharing agreement. Pending federal approval, Ranbaxy Laboratories also plans to sell a generic version. It is noteworthy that when a drug’s patent protection expires, the federal law permits only limited generic competition in the first six months1.