Pfizer loses appeal over use of branded painkiller pregabalin

Pfizer has failed in its bid to overturn a High Court ruling on the validity of the patents covering its painkiller pregabalin (marketed as Lyrica).

The appeal court upheld the lower court ruling against the company, in which Mr Justice Richard Arnold said that Pfizer had made “groundless claims” that its patent would be infringed unless doctors prescribed Lyrica by brand name as opposed to a generic alternative.1

Pfizer …