UPDATE 1-Novartis to sell generic Plavix for 25 pct less

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ZURICH, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) will sell a generic version of Sanofi-Aventis SA's (SASY.PA) Plavix blood-thinner at a discount of about 25 percent in Germany, it said on Wednesday.

Novartis unit Hexal will launch its medicine in Germany after a court backed immediate marketing approval for the generic versions of Plavix, a blockbuster blood-thinning drug from Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N).

"Hexal is sending a powerful signal: it will be marketing clopidogrel at a price roughly 25 percent below that of Plavix/Iscover," the Novartis unit said in a statement.

Sanofi and Bristol, which recently defeated generic competition to Plavix in the United States, have been facing a generic threat in Europe since May, when Swiss generics company Schweizerhall Holding AG SWHN.S first said it was close to winning approval for its generic version.

Sandoz/Hexal, the generics unit of Novartis, is the marketing agent for Schweizerhall, which has estimated the European market for clopidogrel to be worth about 2 billion euros ($3.10 billion). (Reporting by Sam Cage; Editing by Greg Mahlich)