Court gives Teva green light for generic arthritis drug

A federal judge in Virginia ruled that the patent for Pfizer's Celebrex expires in May.

A US federal judge in Virginia has given Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) the go-ahead to begin marketing a generic version of arthritis treatment Celebrex after ruling that the drug's patent expires in May. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) had been seeking to extend the patent of the blockbuster drug, which has annual sales of $3 billion, through to December 2015.

The ruling is seen as an important victory for Teva, Mylan Inc. and Lupin Ltd. Pfizer said that it will appeal the decision.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 13, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

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