Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has launched the generic equivalent to Abilify (aripiprazole) tablets in 2 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg, and 30 mg doses, in the US. Aripiprazole tablets, an atypical antipsychotic medication, are approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and for the acute treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder.
Teva president and CEO Global Generic Medicines Siggi Olafsson said, “Our commitment at Teva is to make affordable, high-quality generic medicines available to millions of patients every day."
Abilify, marketed by Otsuka Pharmaceutical, had annual sales of roughly $7.8 billion in the US, according to IMS data as of December 2014.
Teva remains involved in a patent litigation in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey in which Otsuka has asserted three patents, and recently requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) based solely on one of those patents, a combination patent, to block generic competition beyond the April 20, 2015 expiration of pediatric exclusivity on Otsuka’s compound patent. On April 16, 2015, the District Court denied Otsuka’s request for a TRO based on the combination patent, finding that Otsuka’s likelihood of success on the merits is low.
Teva has also launched Argatroban Injection in 0.9% sodium chloride, 250 mg/250 mL for intravenous infusion only in the US. Argatroban Injection is used to prevent or treat blood clots in adult patients who have developed antibodies to heparin or heparin-like products causing a decrease in platelets (known as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia). Argatroban Injection is also used as a blood thinner in adult patients during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a cardiac procedure, in patients who have had or are at risk for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.
Argatroban Injection had annual sales of approximately $22 million in the US, according to IMS data as of December 2014.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 29, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015