Huge Court Win for Pfizer

Updated from 5:24 p.m. EST

Pfizer (PFE Quote) beat back a challenge from India's Ranbaxy Laboratories after a judge upheld two of the New York-based company's U.S. patents on Lipitor, the top-selling prescription drug in the world.

The Delaware federal court decision sent shares of Pfizer higher by $2.69, or 11.9%, to $25.27 in after-hours trading Friday.

Lipitor, a cholesterol drug, had sales of $10.9 billion last year, accounting for roughly 24% of Pfizer's overall sales. Pfizer sold more than $4 billion worth of Lipitor in foreign markets and about $6.6 billion in the U.S. in 2004. ...