Lundbeck withdraws cases, move a boost for Matrix

Matrix Laboratories has announced that Danish pharma company Lundbeck, innovator of the anti-depressant blockbuster drug Citalopram, has withdrawn patent infringement cases against Ratiopharm and Destin Pharma in the European courts.

Ratiopharm and Destin Pharma are among the major generic customers of Matrix in Europe for Citalopram active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).

API is the raw material of a pharmaceutical product which contains the actual substance which makes the drug do what it purports to do.

The withdrawal is expected to result in a significant increase in Citalopram exports to Europe by Matrix. The company has already captured more than 50 per cent market share for the bulk active in Europe.

Citalopram contributed about 50 per cent to Matrix's sales in the last fiscal and 36 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal.

This is third major victory for Matrix's Citalopram customers in Europe. The first was the withdrawal of a patent infringement litigation against Lagap Pharmaceuticals, a generics arm of Novartis, by Lundbeck in London court in October last year.

In this case, Lundbeck also withdrew its allegations of forgery and perjury made against Matrix and its directors and employees.

In another case, European generic companies using Matrix's API won patent-related case against Lundbeck in Denmark on January 26, 2004.

According to a release by Matrix here, the company hopes to commence exports of Citalopram API to US market by the middle of the current calendar year.

Matrix has already filed the drug master file (DMF) with US Food and Drug Administration for Citalopram bulk active. A DMF is a submission that may be used to provide confidential detailed information about facilities, processes, or articles used.