German pharmaceuticals wholesaler Phoenix Pharmahandel AG & Co. said Tuesday it has won an interim court order forcing Swiss drugs company Novartis AG (NVS) to resume the supply of drugs in Germany.

The regional court in Mannheim granted the interim ruling last Friday, Phoenix, a closely held company, said.

"This temporary order obliged Novartis to resume supply to Phoenix to meet demand," a Phoenix spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Novartis was not immediately available for comment.

The development is the latest round in a dispute between the two companies over discount pricing.

Phoenix and Sanacorp Pharmaholding AG (SNC3.FF), two of Germany's largest pharmaceutical wholesale firms providing drugs to more than 10,000 pharmacies, said Novartis stopped deliveries in November following disagreements over delivery conditions.

Other wholesale firms such as Gehe, which controls around 15% of Germany's EUR35 billion pharmacy market, have complained that they haven't received drug deliveries for several weeks.

According to a person familiar with the situation, Novartis wants to cut the cash discount from 1.5% to below 1%.

The wholesale firms said they went public about the halted deliveries because they are required under German law to be ready to provide drugs to pharmacies at all times and need to alert officials in case of potential shortages.

-By John Revill, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 8042 ; john.revill@dowjones.com

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