Falling off the patent cliff

Indian generics manufacturers are scrambling for position as best-selling pharmaceutical products approach the end of their IP protection periods

Alfred Romann reports

In 1985 a chemist at the US pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert named Bruce Roth synthesized the chemical compound atorvastatin and changed the global pharmaceutical market forever.

A decade later, atorvastatin, which lowers blood cholesterol, became the best-selling pharmaceutical compound in history under the brand name Lipitor. Launched in 1997, Lipitor won itself an 18% market share in the US in its first year. Warner-Lambert’s stock rose 86% as a result.

Lipitor’s timing could not have been better: when it went to market, awareness of the dangers of cholesterol and its link to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were at an all-time high. In 2000, rival drug maker Pfizer, paid US$90 billion to buy Warner-Lambert in the biggest pharmaceutical takeover ever undertaken at the time. For Pfizer, owning Lipitor was a licence to print money.