Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has cheered investors with the news that that a US court has given it the green light to market the hypertension drug Lotrel.
Teva announced this morning that the US District Court for the District of New Jersey had vacated a temporary restraining order in effect since May 23, 2007 and denied a motion filed by Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS; LSE: NOV; SWX: NOVZ) for a preliminary injunction related to Teva's amlodipine besylate/ benazepril products, AB rated to Novartis' Lotrel. The court found that Novartis was not likely to succeed on its allegations of infringement. Teva said it intended to resume commercial shipments of the drug immediately.
Teva's generic version of the drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 18, 2007 and Teva immediately commenced commercial shipment. Annual sales of the brand product were approximately $1.4 billion in the US based on IMS sales data.
The marketing of Lotrel and its generic versions will be through three channels: Novartis will market both the ethical drug and the authorized generic version, and Teva will market its own generic version. Teva has won a 40% share of the Lotrel market without the authorized generic version.
Leader Capital Markets analyst Yoav Burgan today again raised his target price for Teva to $54, just a week after raising it to $52 from $39. He gives the share a “Strong buy” recommendation. He notes that Teva management’s guidance of earnings per share of $2.20-2.30 for 2007 does not include the latest developments concerning Lotrel.
Clal Finance Batucha analyst Yisca Erez has retained her 2007 forecasts for Teva because they already include Lotrel sales. However the possibility that Teva will have marketing exclusivity in 2008 as well on the assumption that no other generic company will market the drug before mid-2008 could boost the company’s annual earnings per share to over $2.50.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 12, 2007
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