BUSINESS BRIEFING / COURTS

Pfizer Inc. must face a class-action lawsuit claiming that the world’s largest drug maker misled investors by distorting the results of a clinical study on the painkiller Celebrex, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

Six pension funds sued Pfizer and its Pharmacia Corp. unit in 2003, alleging that the company violated securities laws by falsely claiming that Celebrex had a better safety profile than similar medications. The federal appeals court in Philadelphia reinstated the suit, ruling that a district court judge erred in tossing out the case on statute of limitations grounds.