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Pfizer faces patent loss; Allergan over generics probe; Sun Pharma rallies

Mar 14, 2017

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Pfizer faces first 2017 patent loss as Pristiq generics arrive

Pfizer faces a challenging year on the patent loss front, starting with the generics of its antidepressant Pristiq now hitting the market. Mylan today said it had launched its copycat of desvenlafaxine extended-release tablets, in 50 mg and 100 mg doses. India’s Lupin also has its version on the market and a slew of other generic makers, including Sandoz and Teva’s new Actavis unit, have approvals. Pristiq itself was a drug launched to protect Pfizer sales from the patent loss on a preceding antidepressant, Effexor. Pristiq was first developed by Wyeth before it merged into Pfizer in 2009 to create the drug giant it is today.

Surprised shareholders target Allergan over generics pricing probe

Allergan no longer owns Actavis, having unloaded the generics unit to Teva. That hasn’t kept the drugmaker from facing potential fallout from shareholders who say Allergan’s share price has been stung by questionable pricing practices when it did. Former employee Andrew Ormond launched a class action suit against the drugmaker, arguing its shares were “artificially inflated” between Feb. 25, 2014, and Nov. 2, 2016. Several Allergan press releases and filings from the company praised its own performance during that time, but the lawsuit claims that behind the scenes, things weren’t all that genial. Allergan “and several of its pharmaceutical industry peers colluded to fix generic drug prices in violation of federal antitrust laws,” according to the class action. That put the company “at risk of criminal prosecution and civil and criminal penalties,” factors that investors couldn’t assess, according to the suit.

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Sun Pharma rallies 7% as USFDA lifts import alert on Mohali unit

Shares of Sun Pharmaceuticals shot up nearly 7 per cent in Tuesday’s trade after said that USFDA on Monday lifted the import alert imposed on the company’s Mohali manufacturing facility and remove the facility from the Official Action Initiated (OAI) status. Following the report, the stock jumped 6.57 per cent to hit a high of Rs 728.45 on BSE. The company’s market capitalisation rose by over Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 1.74 lakh crore. The Mohali facility was inherited by Sun Pharma as part of its acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2015. The US FDA had taken action against the Mohali facility in 2013 when it ordered the facility to be fully subject to Ranbaxy’s Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction.