A 7-2 Supreme Court vote means Teva will not compete with generic Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) until at least September. Bloomberg reports that the decision “gives Teva more time to shift patients to a longer-acting version that won’t face generic competition until 2030.” The older version of the multiple sclerosis drug is a daily 20mg injection. The three-times a week version is a 40mg dose.
Bloomberg also notes that the ruling limits the power of lower courts to come to a different decision about the MS drug’s patent. Jefferies analyst David Steinberg noted in a Monday prescription trend wrap-up that Teva’s three-times-a-week Copaxone has demonstrated an average conversion rate of 61.8% over the past four weeks.
