Barr, Teva to market generic Allegra
Firms won't wait on patent lawsuit to sell allergy drug
Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said they will begin selling a generic form of Sanofi-Aventis's Allegra allergy tablets without waiting for approval from a US court.
Barr, which has exclusive marketing rights on generic Allegra for 180 days, and Teva, the world's biggest generic-drug company, will share the profits and the risk that a judge will rule against them in a patent-infringement suit by Sanofi. Should they lose, they may have to reimburse Sanofi for lost profits.
Allegra generated about $1.4 billion in US sales for Paris-based Sanofi in the 12 months that ended in June, Barr said, citing figures from IMS Health. The generic drug could take 70 percent of that market, unless Sanofi decides to launch its own unbranded version of the drug, Deborah A. Knobelman, a Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst, said in a note to clients.
Teva is producing the drug and using Barr's exclusivity period, a Barr spokeswoman said.
Barr shares had their biggest one-day jump in more than four years. The shares rose $4.42, or 9.7 percent, to close at $50.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.
A judge ruled earlier that Barr, based in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and Teva, based in Petah Tikva, Israel, weren't infringing three patents on Allegra and a fourth wasn't valid. Other patents remain in the case, and a trial could be held next year.
Barr began limited sales of the drug on Aug. 31 in a ''surprise" launch intended to establish its exclusive rights for the six-month period, spokeswoman Carol Cox said. Barr also wanted to catch Sanofi off guard so it wouldn't file court papers to block the sales or launch its own generic version of Allegra, Cox said.
Barr also has approval to sell a generic form of Allegra-D, the extended-release form of the drug. Cox said no decision has been made on whether to begin sales of that drug before a court ruling on patent litigation.
Teva received final approval for its generic Allegra on Sept. 1 from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Shares of Albany Molecular Research Inc., which helps drug makers develop medicines and owns a patent relating to fexofenadine hydrochloride, Allegra's active ingredient, plunged 23 percent on the news. Albany Molecular receives royalties from Sanofi.
