By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Manila Bulletin – June 11, 2007

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) has admitted difficulty of coming up with a decision on the petition of the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) to void patent of Pfizer over Norvasc ahead ofthe medicine's patent expiration on the 13th this month.

Atty. Ireneo Galicia, deputy director gen­eral of IP Philippines, told reporters that the Bureau of Legal of Affairs have already notified the respondent Pfizer UK through its resident representative on PITC's petition.

But there was no reply yet from the respondent's side, Galicia said. PITC filed the petition last May 7. The Pfizer patent on Norvasc, an essential anti-hypertensive maintenance medicine, will expire on the 13th this month.

"It would have been better if we could resolve the petition or issue a decision after hearing the case to the finish," Galicia said.

Galicia, on the other hand, said that it could be possible that would still issue a de­cision on the PITC petition even if the patent of Pfizer on Norvasc has already lapsed.

The PITC is pursuing this case against Pfizer despite the near expiry date of the patent because a decision by IP Philippines in its favor would strengthen its position against Pfizer.

It could be recalled that PITC imported 80 samples of Norvasc (40 tablets of 5 mg and 40 tablets of 10 mg) from Pfizer in Paki­stan in December 2005 to comply with the requirement for product registration with the Bureau of Food and Drugs preparatory for importation once Pfizer patent expires on June 13, 2007.

Norvasc [amlodipine besylate] manufac­tured in the Philippines is priced at P44.75 per 5 mg and 1"74.57 for 10 mg while in Pakistan, where it is also manufactured by Pfizer, the prices are onlyP'8.74 and PI7.09, respectively.