Teva Seeks Deals to Deepen Branded Business In Niche Diseases
Tevas internal research pipeline will also continue to focus on “niche specialty disease categories” such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrigs disease, Jon Congleton, general manager of the Petah Tikva, Israel-based companys U.S. neuroscience unit, said in a telephone interview.
“The competencies that weve developed in the past decade- plus have been addressing niche specialty disease categories,” Congleton said. “Thats where were going to try to focus all of our branded efforts.”
Sales of Tevas first branded product and top-seller Copaxone, an injection for multiple sclerosis, rose 37 percent to $595 million in the fourth quarter, 21 percent of the Israeli companys revenue. Teva sued Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Novartis AGs Sandoz unit in August to prevent them from selling a copy of the drug, which loses patent protection in 2014.
Teva could bring its experimental multiple sclerosis pill, laquinimod, to the market by the second half of 2011, Congleton said. The drugmaker is still recruiting patients for the second of two 24-month clinical trials required before U.S. regulators weigh the sale of the medicine. Laquinimod has been granted fast- track status, meaning the Food and Drug Administration typically makes a decision within six months.
Multiple Sclerosis
German drug and chemical maker Merck KGaA and Switzerlands Novartis are ahead of Teva in the race for a multiple sclerosis pill, with both companies planning to ask regulators this year to approve their tablets. Elmar Schnee, the head of Mercks pharmaceutical unit, told analysts last week that the company would ask for approval in the first half of the year.
Teva is developing a strategy to add cancer medicines to its portfolio of branded products, Congleton said.
“Its a new area for us, but its certainly one of interest,” he said. “Thats a piece thats still in development right now.”
Research on womens health drugs will continue as Teva integrates former U.S. rival Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., Congleton said. Teva gained the Plan B “morning-after” pill and Seasonique contraceptive in the $7.4 billion Barr purchase last year.
Branded-product sales will account for 35 percent of Tevas revenue by 2013, more than double the 16 percent in 2007, John Boris, an analyst for Citigroup Global Markets in New York, wrote in a note to clients in December, before the fourth-quarter results were released.