Merrill Lynch: Teva confident on Copaxone patent defense

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) president and CEO of Americas Bill Marth told Merrill Lynch that the company "appears very confident on its legal defense for Copaxone". He made the remarks while attending the 2012 Generic Pharmaceutical Association in Orlando. Merrill Lynch reiterated its "Buy" recommendation with a target price of $55.

Teva is involved in patent infringement on its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone against Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MNTA) a ruling by the US federal court could come at any time. Teva believes that it should be able to maintain brand exclusivity until the patent expires in September 2015.

Marth said that the implementation of user fees for generics in the US could help to generate "cleaner" generic drug applications at the time of filing. He also believes that Teva is on track for the launch of biosimilars for GCSF and long-acting GCSF in 2013, possibly as "non-differentiated branded products".

According to Merrill Lynch, Teva believes that it is on track with its generic Advair (which Mylan will likely be the first company to launch a generic version in the US in 2016), generic EpiPen (although it has a device component, making it more difficult than regular generic approval), generic Lovaza, a fish oil product (pending the decision in the legal case, in which the company believes it has a strong case), and generic Adderall XR, for which Teva will sell an authorized generic version of Shire plc's (LSE: SHP) brand drug.

Teva also continues to explore life-cycle management of Cephalon's brand oncology drug Treanda. According to Merrill Lynch, the company could host an investor meeting in the fall, which will include an update on drugs in the pipeline, following the acquisition of Cephalon, and after Jeremy Levin takes over as CEO in May.

Teva's share price rose 0.9% by midday on the TASE today to NIS 167.50, after rising 0.1% on Nasdaq on Friday to $44.59, giving a market cap of $39.4 billion.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 26, 2012