Through a long-awaited ruling under Jamaica's archaic Patent
Law of 1857, local pharmaceutical companies Medimpex Jamaica
Limited and Lasco Distributors Limited emerged victors over
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Limited when judgment was handed down
in their favour on July 29 2009.
What started out in 2002 as a simple quest by Pfizer to enforce
its local patent in salts of amlodipine (amlodipine besylate)
against Jamaican importers/ distributors of the generic form of the
drug turned into a major issue about the validity of Pfizer's
Jamaican patent.
Medimpex and Lasco import and distribute the drugs Normodipine
and Las Amlodipine, respectively, both of which contain amlodipine
besylate and which compete against Pfizer's drug Norvasc, also
containing amlodipine besylate. In March 2005 Pfizer was successful
in its application for an interim injunction restraining these
companies and another local distributor, Mac's Pharmaceuticals,
from importing, selling, supplying
