New York (ots/PRNewswire)

Pfizer said today that the Austrian Patent Office has ruled that a
claim in the company's basic patent covering the use of atorvastatin,
the active ingredient in Lipitor, would be infringed by generic
manufacturer Ranbaxy. Ranbaxy can appeal the ruling, but the patent
will remain in effect during the appeals process. Lipitor is sold in
Austria under the brand name Sortis.

The decision will allow Pfizer to take further legal action to
prevent Ranbaxy from launching a competitor product before the
expiration of Lipitor's basic patent on November 7, 2011.

"The decision by the Austrian Patent Office is yet another
affirmation of the strength of the intellectual property behind this
important medical breakthrough," said Pfizer general counsel Allen
Waxman. "The ruling reinforces the fundamental principle that patent
laws exist to support and encourage medical innovators, not undermine
them."

Pfizer said it will continue to vigorously contest challenges to
its Lipitor patents around the world.

Web site: http://www.pfizer.com

Contact:

Bryant Haskins, +1-212-733-8719, for Pfizer; Photo: A free corporate
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