UNITED LABORATORIES INC., the country’s biggest local pharmaceutical firm, is bent on dismantling the monopoly of industry giant Pfizer Inc. over the widely popular anti-hypertensive Atorvastatin, marketed under the Lipitor brand.

Unilab launched earlier this month its version of the drug, branded Avamax, which sold for about 30-percent cheaper than Lipitor.

According to market data, Pfizer’s Lipitor currently sells for P34.45 for a 10-milligram (mg) tablet, P39.13 for a 20-mg tablet, and P50.50 for a 40-mg tablet.

Prior to the imposition of the Maximum Drug Retail Price under RA 9502, or the Universally Accessible and Quality Cheaper Medicines Act, Lipitor was priced at P63.75, P78.25 and P101 for a 10-mg, 20-mg, and 40-mg tablet, respectively.

Unilab’s Avamax, on the other hand, goes for P25 for a 10-mg, P30 for a 20-mg, and P35 for a 40-mg tablet.

The two pharmaceutical companies are now locked in a patent battle, with Unilab challenging Pfizer’s patent for Atorvastatin through a filing with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines seeking to cancel this particular patent.

The Atorvastatin patent was actually held by Warner Lambert, which Pfizer acquired in 2004.

According to sources, Unilab’s petition for patent cancellation was based on the patent’s failure to meet patentability standards under the Intellectual Property Code and the Cheaper Medicines Act.

If anything, the patent was an attempt at “evergreening,” or making small modifications on the same compound to ensure almost perpetual patent renewal.

Similar patents, however, have already been invalidated in Austria, Australia, Germany, Norway, South Korea, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, paving the way for the introduction of lower-priced generic versions of the drug.

The Unilab petition is still pending action of IP Philippines.