U.S. judge OKs Bristol-Myers $125 mln Plavix settlement

* Judge calls class-action settlement fair, reasonable

* Dec. 8 hearing set for final approval

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge has granted preliminary approval for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) to pay $125 million to resolve a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding information related to a case involving its anti-blood clotting medication Plavix.

Judge Paul Crotty of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan endorsed the class-action settlement on Tuesday, calling it "fair, reasonable and adequate to the class." He scheduled a Dec. 8 hearing to consider final approval.

According to court papers, New York-based Bristol-Myers in March 2006 entered a settlement that allowed Canada's Apotex Inc to make a generic version of Plavix.

Yet investors complained that Bristol-Myers failed to disclose secret side agreements with Apotex, and the settlement limited its ability to recover damages and enforce its patent rights.

The settlement would have delayed Apotex's sale of generic versions of Plavix.

Shares of Bristol-Myers fell during the summer of 2006 after a federal criminal antitrust probe was launched and the company revealed more details about the settlement. Bristol-Myers ousted Chief Executive Peter Dolan in September of that year.

Plavix, whose chemical name is clopidogrel bisulfate, is the world's second-best selling drug after Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) cholesterol treatment Lipitor. France's Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA) sells Plavix outside the United States.

The lead plaintiff in the Bristol-Myers class-action case is the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board. A lawyer for the board, Salvatore Graziano, did not immediately return a request for a comment.

Laura Hortas, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers, said the company was pleased to settle.

Bristol-Myers confirmed on Tuesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will review the Plavix patent following a request from Apotex.

The patent is expected to expire in November 2011, although Bristol-Myers and Sanofi might win a six-month extension for conducting pediatric studies. A federal appeals court last December upheld the validity of the patent.

The class-action case is In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Co Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), No. 07-5867. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)