Chad Landmon Talks Patents with The Wall Street Journal

On June 19, 2008, Axinn's Chad Landmon and Avery Johnson with the Journal discussed Pfizer's deal with India's Ranbaxy to keep a cheaper version of Lipitor off the U.S. market until November 2011.  The settlement ensures that Ranbaxy is the only company eligible to sell the generic for 180 days after expiration of the patent.   The launch date of Ranbaxy's generic version could potentially have been delayed through 2017 and 2017due to process patents, but Chad discounted the importance of these patents.  "'The process patents are the ones generics can get around,' said Chad Landmon, a partner at Axinn in Hartford, Conn., who primarily represents generic drug-makers.  He added that the Caduet provision could draw FTC scrutiny.  "Those are things the FTC looks at and says, 'That's just as good as sending money back to Ranbaxy.'"