Pfizer faces legal action from Australian competition regulator

Australia's competition regulator said on Thursday it was taking legal action against the local division of Pfizer Inc over the way it marketed its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor to pharmacies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (AC) said Pfizer had, to deter competition, offered pharmacies "significant" discounts and rebates if they stocked at least a year's worth of the drug, which goes by the generic name atorvastatin and is prescribed to over one million Australians. The drug had generated annual sales exceeding A$700 million ($632.35 million) for Pfizer in Australia before the company's patent expired in there in May 2012, the ACCC said. Pfizer denied its methods were uncompetitive.