Pfizer Warns U.K. Doctors About Prescribing Generic Lyrica For Pain

Pfizer Inc. PFE "has written to physician groups in the U.K. to warn that prescribing generic versions of its Lyrica medicine – specifically, for treating pain – would violate its patent," according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Pfizer believes the supply of generic pregabalin for use in the treatment of pain whilst the pain patent remains in force in the U.K. would infringe Pfizer’s patent rights," Ruth Coles, the Pfizer legal director in the U.K., writes in the letter. "This would not be the case with supply or dispensing of generic pregabalin for non-pain indications."

Pfizer indicated that the issue is a legal matter rather than a clinical one and it is concerned about its patent rights.

Pfizer recently traded at $32.61, down 0.47 percent.