Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) today announced that the US District Court for the District of New Jersey has granted a request by AstraZeneca plc (LSE: AZN) for a temporary order restraining further sales of Teva's generic version of AstraZeneca's asthma treatment, Pulmicort, pending the court’s decision on AstraZeneca's motion for a preliminary injunction. The hearing on injunction is set for November 25, 2008, and a trial on the patent case is set for January 12, 2009.
The court also suspended the distribution of authorized generic version of the drug by AstraZeneca and its partner Par Pharmaceuticals Inc (NYSE: PRX). Pulmicort has annual US sales of $996 million, according to IMC data.
Teva launched sales of its generic Pulmicort yesterday after obtaining US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, and after a court denied a citizen petition on the product.
Merrill Lynch analyst Gregg Gilbert noted that the launch of Pulmicort was "at risk" because of the pending patent trial. He said that the launch increases Teva's sales and visibility for the fourth quarter, and possibly for 2009 and beyond. He also noted that recently acquired Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: BRL) had settled its patent suit with Sanofi-Aventis SA (NYSE: SNY; Euronext: SAN) over Allegra. He reiterated his "Buy" recommendation and $48 price target for Teva.
Gilbert predicts that Pulmicort could contribute $200 million a year to Teva's sales and add earnings per share of $0.15, assuming an authorized generic and another generic version of the drug. He notes, "We are not aware of other generic filers (it is possible that others filed and were not sued), but we don’t expect this to be a crowded market."
Teva fell 0.9% on Nasdaq yesterday to $41.80. The share fell 4.1% by midday on the TASE to NIS 164.70, as part of the general market tumble.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2008
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