Brazil court rules Pfizer's Viagra patent expires June 20; drug giant said to be in talks to buy Teuto; sues Ranbaxy and Watson as Abbott and Fourni

Last week, Brazil's Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) ruled that the validity of the patent which guarantees the right of exclusivity of US drugs behemoth Pfizer for the manufacture and marketing of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil) expires on June 20.

Brazilian law protects the exclusivity of an invention for a period of 20 years. However, the protection of patented products by pipeline system is calculated for the remainder of the original patent ' first filing abroad. As the first patent for Viagra was deposited in the UK in June 1990, the period of exclusivity expires in June 2010, the court stated. The appeal was brought by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) against the Federal Regional Court of the 2nd Region which maintained the validity of the patent until the day June 7, 2011.

Pfizer argued that the claim filed in the UK was not completed and that the registration of the patent was only obtained in June 1991 at the European Patent Office. However, the drugs giant has the right to appeal the ruling before the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the last court of law in Brazil. According to local media reports, Viagra is the second most sold drug for erectile dysfunction in Brazil, behind Eli Lilly's Cialis (tadalafil).