United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab), the country’s biggest drug manufacturer, expects sales of Avamax (anti-cholesterol drug) to reach P20 million next year from P15 million and vowed to continue launching branded generic drugs to provide quality but cheaper medicines to the public.

Jose Maria A. Ochave, Unilab vice-president for legal services group, however, said that sales projection for Avamax also includes those from Mercury, but which has not been carrying Avamax for unknown reason. The extensive Mercury drugstore chain accounts for 40 percent of the total medicine sales in the country.

“But this is only a small portion of the P890 million sales of Lipitor, which is growing at 21.5 percent annually,” Ochave pointed out.

Ochave also revealed that Unilab is even coming out with a generic drug equivalent of Pfizer drug Zithromax (Azithromycin, an antibiotics drug), in the first quarter of next year. But Unilab would be using the monohydrate raw material to avoid a patent issue over Pfizer’s di-hydrate.

Ochave said this even as the company faces a patent infringement suit from multinational drug company Pfizer for coming up with Avamax, the generic drug equivalent of the Lipitor (Atorvastatin).

Ochave has downplayed the impact of the Pfizer suit saying the Lipitor patent, set to expire in 2012, is “weak and frivolous” and for that Unilab also filed a case before the Intellectual Property of the Philippines (IPO) for the cancellation of the Lipitor patent.
Ochave said this is not the first that “we are going after each other” noting that there have been several instances in the past that Unilab came up with generic drug equivalent of the branded products.

But this is the first time that Pfizer sued them and this is also the first time for them to file for the cancellation of a particular patent on the ground that the Lipitor patent is “weak and frivolous”.

Atty. Susan D. Villanueva, an intellectual property expert, explained the Lipitor patent granted in 2004 in the Philippines was actually a mere reinstatement of the 2 expired Philippine patents and one expired U.S. patent.

This makes it (Lipitor) the third patent in the country and that falls under “evergreening” the patentability of a drug when it fact there was nothing new in it and therefore no longer patentable.

Ochave said this even as the company faces a patent infringement suit from multinational drug company Pfizer for coming up with Avamax, the generic drug equivalent of the Lipitor (Atorvastatin).

Ochave has downplayed the impact of the Pfizer suit saying the Lipitor patent, set to expire in 2012, is “weak and frivolous” and for that Unilab also filed a case before the Intellectual Property of the Philippines (IPO) for the cancellation of the Lipitor patent.
Ochave said this is not the first that “we are going after each other” noting that there have been several instances in the past that Unilab came up with generic drug equivalent of the branded products.

But this is the first time that Pfizer sued them and this is also the first time for them to file for the cancellation of a particular patent on the ground that the Lipitor patent is “weak and frivolous”.

Atty. Susan D. Villanueva, an intellectual property expert, explained the Lipitor patent granted in 2004 in the Philippines was actually a mere reinstatement of the 2 expired Philippine patents and one expired U.S. patent.

This makes it (Lipitor) the third patent in the country and that falls under “evergreening” the patentability of a drug when it fact there was nothing new in it and therefore no longer patentable.