UPDATE 1-Teva to sell generic version of Pfizer's Norvasc
(Adds details, context, share price, dateline)
CHICAGO, June 29 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA.O)(TEVA.TA) on Friday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared a generic version of Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE.N) lucrative blood pressure drug, Norvasc.
Total annual sales of the drug are about $2.8 billion, Israel-based Teva said. Once one of Pfizer's biggest selling drugs, an incoming flood of generics is expected to eat dramatically into sales.
Rival generic drugmaker Mylan Laboratories Inc. MYL.N in March launched a generic form of the medicine, known generically as amlodipine, after a federal appeals court declared some of Pfizer's patent claims invalid.
Mylan has sued U.S. regulators, claiming it is entitled to the standard 180-day marketing exclusivity typically granted to the first generic drug on the U.S. market.
In May, privately held drugmaker Apotex Corp. said it launched a generic version of the drug.
Mylan shares slipped about 1 percent, or 21 cents to $18.16 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Teva shares were flat at $41.03 on Nasdaq. Pfizer shares were off 17 cents, or 0.62 percent, at $25.46 on the NYSE.
The drug is approved to treat hypertension, or high blood pressure and certain types of chest pain.
(Reporting by Kim Dixon. Additional reporting by Varsha Tickoo in Bangalore)
((Editing by Andre Grenon; Reuters Messaging; kim.dixon.reuters.com@reuters.net; email; kim.dixon@reuters.com +1 312 408 8561)) Keywords: TEVA FDA/PFIZER
(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nN29361995
