Plavix News...

I can't remember if Putt is still taking this, but it's good news if he is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/business/worldbusiness/05drug.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin
Drug Makers Take a Fall on Talk of a Generic’s Release


By STEPHANIE SAUL
Published: August 5, 2006
Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis fell yesterday after an industry executive predicted that a generic version of their blockbuster anticlotting drug Plavix could reach the market as early as this month, five years before the patent is set to expire.

The prediction by David B. Snow, the chief executive of Medco Health Solutions, seemed to confirm the likelihood that the Canadian drug maker Apotex plans to roll out its generic copy of Plavix soon in an aggressive challenge to the drug’s patent.

The patent challenge is already the subject of a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan. And state officials last week rejected a proposed settlement between Apotex and the two big drug makers that had been intended to resolve the matter by delaying the introduction of a Plavix competitor until 2011.

Bristol-Myers and Sanofi have previously told investors that losing the exclusive right to sell Plavix would have a significant financial impact on the companies. The drug’s worldwide sales were $6.3 billion last year.

Apotex officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Bristol-Myers vowed to fight any challenge to the Plavix patent, while Sanofi declined to comment.

Mr. Snow made the remarks during his company’s second-quarter earnings call with investment analysts. Mr. Snow said Medco, which administers drug benefit plans for employers, was raising its earnings forecast for the year based on the increased availability of several generics.

The company is forecasting that the generic form of Plavix, a blockbuster drug with spending of $2.7 billion in the United States, will become available in 2006, Mr. Snow said, a forecast that sent shares of Bristol-Myers and Sanofi tumbling. Another company official said the generic drug could “ship soon.”

Bristol-Myers’s stock, which was off by nearly 6 percent after his remarks, recovered somewhat but still ended the day’s trading down 4.4 percent, closing at $22.75.

The American depository receipts of Sanofi, which is based in France, ended at $45.15, down 3.8 percent.

Medco, whose own shares were up 2.2 percent on a strong second-quarter report and its earnings outlook, said it based the Plavix forecast on “market chatter,” but did not disclose the source of its information. Companies like Medco are frequently in contact with generic drug makers because of the large volume of drugs they supply through employee benefit programs.

Another similar company, Express Scripts, raised its earnings forecast last week, also citing the unexpected entrance of new generics, but did not specify what those drugs might be.

The availability of generic Plavix could be good news for thousands of people who take the drug, particularly those who pay retail. Plavix sells for about $4 a day. The generic version would very likely be 30 percent cheaper. The drug is normally used by heart attack and stroke victims to prevent a recurrence.

Apotex was known to have begun manufacturing a generic form of Plavix early this year after gaining Food and Drug Administration approval in January, despite the existence of the United States patent. The validity of that patent is the subject of a lawsuit involving the three companies in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The companies had tentatively settled that lawsuit in March, but the settlement was rejected last week by a coalition of state attorneys general. The day before that announcement, Bristol-Myers and Sanofi had said that the settlement, which involved a cash payment to Apotex, had also become the subject of a Justice Department criminal investigation.

A decision by Apotex to begin marketing the drug while the patent is still in force would be a move known in the industry as an “at-risk launch.” It means Apotex could be responsible for repaying the brand-name companies three times their sales losses if they end up successfully defending their patent in court.

Such a risky move, though, would not be out of character for Apotex, which is based near Toronto. The company and its owner, Barry Sherman, are known for aggressively taking on brand-name pharmaceutical companies through marketing and litigation.

Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesman for Bristol-Myers, which is based in New York, said in a statement that his company and Sanofi believed their patent had been infringed and planned to fight vigorously to defend it.

 

I am on aspirin instead.
Saved me 180 a month.