Global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc has sued the Hyderabad-based drug firm Aurobindo Pharma Ltd

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alleging patent infringement pertaining to its cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor.

Lipitor, which is among the best selling drugs in the US markets, had annual sales of over $7 billion last year, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

Earlier, Pfizer, which claims patents on the drug until 2017, had sued a number of global and Indian generic drug firms including Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy’s alleging patent infringement pertaining to Lipitor.

While Ranbaxy had in 2008 reached an agreement with Pfizer to settle most of their patent litigations and launch the product in certain countries after November, Dr Reddy’s is currently fighting the litigation filed against by Pfizer on December 27 last year.

An Aurobindo Pharma official, who did not want to be named, did not rule out the possibility of entering into a settlement with Pfizer on similar terms of Ranbaxy.

Pfizer has filed the patent infringement case against Aurobindo in the district court of Delaware on Monday, following the filing of abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) by the Hyderabad drug firm before USFDA on May 17 on the drug.

In its petition, Pfizer has urged the court to refrain Aurobindo from manufacturing and marketing of the drug before January 8, 2017, the day Pfizer’s patents on the drug expires.