Judges to consider Pfizer appeal

Chinese judges will hear tomorrow Pfizer’s appeal against the country’s withdrawal of patent protection for the company’s best-selling erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra, a Pfizer spokesman said.

Overseas investors view China’s handling of Pfizer’s efforts to defend the patent as a litmus test for the country’s commitment to the protection of intellectual property rights.

The State Intellectual Property Office last year overturned Pfizer’s patent on sildenafil citrate, the main ingredient in Viagra.