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This is an archive article published on November 15, 2013
Natco Pharma wins patent case against Teva in US
The drug has annual sales worldwide of over 4 billion including 2.2 billion in the US.
Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma has won a patent battle against Israeli drug giant Teva Pharmaceuticals,which could enable it to launch a generic version of the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone in the US in 2014. Copaxone is the largest branded drug sold by Teva,which accounted for almost 20 per cent of its revenue in 2012 and 40 per cent of the multiple sclerosis market. The drug has annual sales worldwide of over 4 billion including 2.2 billion in the US.
The generic opportunity of Copaxone in the US is being chased by only two set of players Novartis amp; Momenta Pharma and Mylan amp; Natco Pharma which will limit the fragmentation of the market and provide a good opportunity for Natco,said analysts.
A senior Natco official said,The company is anticipating getting US Food and Drug Administration USFDA approval to launch generic Copaxone in May 2014 and it will not be affected by any review appeal filed by Teva in the US Supreme Court.
Natco had in June 2008 partnered Mylan to seek USFDA approval for marketing a generic version of Tevas Copaxone.
On Wednesday,US Supreme Court Judge John Roberts turned down request from Teva Pharma to stay a lower court order that denied patent protection to Copaxone from next year instead of 2015.
Interestingly,in 2009 Natco had successfully blocked Tevas patent application for the same drug in India and the patent office here had refused to grant a patent to the Israeli drug maker.
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