Boston, MA 02/13/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) has in the recent past been engulfed in legal battles in and out of court, the recent one a case in which it was seeking the courts of approval for the barring of the production of generics for its new pill Lyrica. The cases seem not to stop with the recent being a case filed in an Australian court in which the authorities want legal action taken against the company for the way it marketed Lipitor in pharmacies across Australia.
The Australian competition and Consumer Commission claims that Pfizer tried to deter competition from other pharmacies by essentially offering discounts and rebates to pharmacies that stocked the drug with inventories large enough to last one year. The drug being mentioned in the case has a generic name of atorvasticin and was prescribed to over 0ne million users across Australia.
The drug on its own had generated revenues in sales amounting to $632.35 before the expiry of its patent in May 2012. The ACC considers the method absurd as they encouraged unfair competition in the market such that small pharmacies that could not be able to afford large inventories were prevented from selling the drug.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) in their own defense issued a statement denying the claims by clearly stating “Pfizer believes strongly that the offers referred to by the ACCC were competitive. We will vigorously defend the proceedings,”
The ACCC in a statement have said that the preliminary of the case is set to begin in March 18 at the Australian federal court. This awaits to be seen what will happen considering Pfizer has recently warn a court battle that was aimed at stopping companies from producing generics of its drug Lyrica.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was not bullish in the market on Wednesday trading session, trading at lower levels. The company’s shares dropped by 0.85% to close the day at $31.61 a share.
