Merrill Lynch estimates that Teva will be able to generate sales of $212 million from the anti-depressant.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA) reported on Friday that it had received notification from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the FTC will not file an objection with the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to the proposed settlement of the patent litigation between Teva and Wyeth over Teva's application to market an extended release venlafaxine capsule product. Venlafaxine is an anti-depressant.
Wyeth markets extended release venlafaxine under the trade name Effexor XR. Effexor has annual sales of $2.5 billion. The two companies did not disclose details of the agreement between them, but it appears that Teva will be able to enter the market as soon as the main patent on the drug expires in June 20088, and will not have to wait until 2017, when the rest of the patents expire.
Wyeth and Teva will now file motions with the court requesting that it should approve the settlement and enter related orders.
When Teva and Wyeth announced the settlement, Merrill Lynch estimated that Teva would be able to generate generic sales of $212 million, which would translate into $0.10 per share additional earnings per quarter.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 4, 2005