Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has announced that Justice Snider of the Federal Court of Canada, has dismissed Pfizer''s application to deny issuance of a ''notice of compliance'' (NoC) regarding Pfizer''s atorvastatin patent CA 2,220,455.

Atorvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering drug, which is marketed by Pfizer as Lipitor.

Ranbaxy says the court found that Pfizer failed to meet its burden of showing that Ranbaxy''s allegation of invalidity is not justified.

Canada''s minister of health was ordered not to issue a NoC until the expiry of the other contested Pfizer Patent (CA 2,220,018). Ranbaxy says it will appeal this decision and remains confident in its position, particularly, since it was successful in Norway on a similar issue regarding extraterritorial coverage of a patent, other than a process patent, outside of the country in which the patent is issued.