AZ sales hit by launch of generic Toprol

pharmafile | November 30, 2006 | News story | Sales and Marketing |ย ย AstraZenecaย 

AstraZeneca's share prices took a dip after news that the company's end-of-year sales figures would be lower than predicted.

These results are largely due to the earlier-than-expected US authorisation of a generic version of its best-selling heart drug, the beta blocker Toprol (metoprolol succinate). Figures released show the company made total sales of $18.2 billion in the first nine months of 2006, after adjustment to exclude Toprol sales in the US.

The announcement comes after the mid-November launch of a 25mg generic version of Toprol in the US by Eon Laboratories, part of the giant German generics company, Sandoz. As a result, AZ has quickly entered into an agreement with Par Pharmaceuticals – AZ's manufacturers of Toprol – for the supply and distribution of a second 25mg generic of the drug.

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In January 2006, a US district court, in litigation involving KV Pharmaceutical, Andrx Pharmaceuticals and Eon Labs manufacturing, decided that patents covering Toprol, which expire on 18 September, 2007, were invalid.

AstraZeneca, however, strongly disagreed with the court's decision and filed an appeal, which is still pending.

Whatever the outcome, the fight over Toprol highlights the fierce battle raging between drug companies and generic firms, which are increasingly challenging patents and flooding the market with cheaper equivalents virtually overnight.

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