Global drugmakers continue legal battles in Russia

Nativa, a well-known Russian producer of generics, is challenging the recent cancellation of its patent for its anticancer drug sunitinib in the intellectual property court in Russia, according to some local media, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

The patent was cancelled in June this year at the request of the structure of the US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), which owns the rights to the original anticancer drug and markets it under the Sutent brand. Nikita Ivanov, senior director for corporate relations and market access at Pfizer in Russia and Belarus, said in an interview with the Russian Vedomosti business paper the drug is protected until the end of August 2022

Nativa registered and launched its analogue of sunitinib on the Russian market in 2017. It also patented the method of its production as its own invention. In the same year, Pfizer legacy company Sugen filed a lawsuit against the Russian company, demanding it admits the violation of its intellectual property (IP) rights and prohibit Nativa from selling the generic. The litigation lasted for several years, while Pfizer failed to impose interim measures in the form of a ban on the generic. As a result, according to Russian pharma analytics firm DSM Group, sales of sunitinib from Nativa only in 2020 amounted to 2.1 billion roubles ($30 million), with sales of the original drug being significantly lower at 896 million roubles.