Pfizer bought some extra time for its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) by reaching a settlement with Ranbaxy Laboratories delaying the US launch of a generic version of the world's top selling pharmaceutical brand.

A federal judge has upheld a Takeda Pharmaceutical and Abbott Laboratories patent for the drugmakers' jointly marketed heartburn drug Prevacid.

Last year, the US pharmaceuticals market grew at its slowest rate since 1961, research firm IMS Health said today.

AstraZeneca's Nexium could face generic competition much sooner than expected, and would-be investors should be wary, said brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein in an analyst note.

Merck put Fosamax and its $3 billion in total 2007 sales in its rear-view mirror yesterday, following the lapse of patent protection on the osteoporosis drug.

Wyeth said this week that it would begin shipping an authorized generic version of Protonix (pantoprazole), its ulcer drug, through Prasco.

The FDA gave the nod to several generics firms to market copycat versions of the over-the-counter allergy drug Zyrtec (cetirizine).

Competitors have stepped up efforts to market generic versions of some of Wyeth's biggest drugs, threatening to sap hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

AstraZeneca has been issued a generic challenge to its blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) by Canada's Cobalt Pharmaceuticals.

King Pharmaceuticals will cut 20% of its 2,600 employee workforce after a federal appeals court judge ruled against a patent extension on the company's blood pressure treatment Altace.