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Lundbeck: Cipralex Falters in Europe

 
• By Hazel Dawson

Lundbeck had appeared well prepared to meet the challenge of losing patent protection on its biggest selling drug, anti-depressant Cipramil. Switching patients to single isomer follow-on Cipralex before generic Cipramil could take hold worked for US marketing partner Forest. But getting follow-on products to market in cost-conscious, skeptical Europe is far harder, as Lundbeck is now learning to its cost.

Danish CNS player H. Lundbeck AS is not the first company to face genericization of its leading drug. Yet unlike others presented with a similar challenge in recent years, the company had appeared somewhat better prepared. It needed to be: anti-depressant citalopram (branded Cipramil in Europe, Celexa in the US), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), contributed 80% of group sales prior to expiry of its European composition of matter patent in 2002.

To protect its anti-depressant franchise, Lundbeck devised a sound and simple strategy: use various tactics to stave off generic competition to Cipramil for as long as possible, launch follow-on compound escitalopram (Cipralex/Lexapro), the active isomer of Cipramil, and

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