Pfizer prevails in Sutent patent dispute

The US District Court for the District of Delaware has upheld US pharma giant Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) basic patent and the L-malate salt patent covering Sutent (sunitinib malate) capsules.

This decision, which is subject to appeal, affirms Pfizer’s right to exclusively provide sunitinib malate as Sutent to patients through the term of the patent, which expires in 2021. Sutent, a treatment for advanced kidney cancer, gastrointestinal and pancreatic tumors, generated sales of about $578 million in the first half of this year.

“The Court’s decision acknowledges the validity and infringement of our patents and affirms the value of Sutent, standard of care in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma,” said Douglas Lankler, executive vice president and general counsel for Pfizer. “Defending our intellectual property is crucial to our ability to discover and develop innovative new medicines, which is at the very core of what we do,” he added.