NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer said the court, in its ruling, had reversed a lower court ruling that would have permitted Teva's Novopharm affiliate to launch its form of Celebrex in Canada.
The patent concerned the chemical composition of Celebrex, company spokesman Bryant Haskins said.
Celebrex had global first-quarter sales of $598 million, making it one of Pfizer's biggest-selling products. The company declined to provide Canadian sales of the medicine, saying it generally does not break out sales of its drugs in individual overseas markets.
Haskins said government agency Health Canada earlier had indicated that on Tuesday it would "de-list," meaning invalidate, a separate patent protecting Celebrex. That patent concerns how Celebrex is used, Haskins said.
"But with today's court decision, Celebrex will be protected in Canada until 2014 no matter what Health Canada does," Haskins said.
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