Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and the privately held US pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma L.P. have agreed to end their lawsuit over Purdue Pharma’s patents on OxyContin tablets. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Teva will cease selling its oxycodone products and Purdue Pharma will not pursue damages against Teva for past infringement.
Sales of the drug OxyContin totaled $2 billion in 2004, and $1.2 billion in 2005. The fall in sales was caused by the launch of a generic version of the drug by Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
In December 2005, Teva announced that it had received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its version of the drug, and immediately marketed it. Leader & Co. Investment House Ltd. analyst Uri Hershkovitz said then that he estimated that OxyContin would add $150-200 million to Teva’s annual sales, and contribute $30-40 million to its annual profit.
OxyContin is Purdue’s ethical drug. Purdue previously reached a collaboration agreement with Ivax for the manufacture of a generic version of the drug in exchange for a share of the profit. The collaboration was thrown into doubt following Ivax’s merger with Teva.
Teva has so far made no official announcement regarding its agreement with Purdue to end sales of the various dosages of OxyContin or disclosed any details regarding the effect it will have on its financial results.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 29, 2006
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