(Adds analyst reaction, live share price)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - AstraZeneca Plc. confirmed it has avoided the
need for a full trial to defend its Seroquel patent from generic company Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries, after being granted its request for a summary
judgement.
The win is a boost for AstraZeneca, as analysts believed that the market had
expected a full trial for the bipolar drug, AstraZeneca's second biggest, which
booked sales of $4.027 billion last year.
However Teva said in a statement Tuesday night it planned to appeal the
ruling.
The U.S. District Court of New Jersey granted the the Anglo-Swedish
drugmaker's request for a summary judgement about an attack from Teva on its
patent, which focused on the so-called no inequitable conduct charge.
The judgement was expected to be announced on June 23, and a full trial
would have taken place on Aug. 11, however the ruling means this is now
unnecessary.
The no inequitable conduct challenge to a patent is notoriously hard to win
because it requires the challenging company to prove the intent of the patent
holder.
David Brennan, chief executive of the London-based company, said: "We are
pleased with the court's decision to uphold our valid intellectual property.
Seroquel remains an important part of our company's portfolio benefiting
patients and physicians throughout the world."
Analyst Simon Mather at WestLB said: "Today is major news for AstraZeneca. I
think we'll see some relief today, I'm not guessing we're going to see quite as
bigger response as we did with the Nexium issues ... but today maybe in the
region of five to seven percent at a peak.
"It's hard to gauge because some investors I speak to have got absolutely no
confidence for the franchise whatsoever and with current market conditions I
think we will get an uplift but I can't see it being as big as the Nexium
issues."
At 8:20 a.m., the shares were up 7.32 percent, or 154 pence, at 2,283 pence.
ben.deighton@thomsonreuters.com
bsd/bsd/kf1
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