Crestor victory lifts AstraZeneca
pharmafile | July 1, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, Crestor
AstraZeneca has defeated a challenge to the US patent on its blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor.
A US District Judge in Wilmington, Delaware rejected moves by a group of generics firms, including Teva, who were seeking to exploit weaknesses in the product’s patent protection.
The company saw its share price rise 9% in response to the ruling, its biggest rally since November 2008.
AstraZeneca and patent partner Shionogi sued the generic drugmakers, starting in 2007, to stop them from marketing copies of Crestor in the US before the patent expires in 2016.
Crestor earned $4.5 billion in global sales last year, making it AstraZeneca’s third-biggest seller behind ulcer treatment Nexium and antipsychotic Seroquel, both of which are set to face generic competition themselves by 2014.
Jeffrey Holford, an analyst at Jefferies International Ltd said the Crestor ruling was anticipated, but if the decision had gone against the company it would have faced a 20% hit to its earnings.
He added that the company “still faces many years of patent expiries and slightly declining earnings”.
Andrew McConaghie
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