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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is a global pharmaceutical company that specializes in the development, production and marketing of generic and proprietary branded pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Teva Pharmaceuticals is among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and among the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Several companies have made notable advancements this year in treating multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system. MS affects an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide and 400,000 people in the United States. There is no cure for MS, and treatments have often caused terrible side effects, such as birth defects, cancer, and the risk of rare brain infections.
Biogen, Sanofi, and Novartis are the most promising advancements in the MS treatment market. Gains made by Biogen, Sanofi, and Novartis could sink Teva in 2014. Mylan and Momenta Pharmaceuticals, which is partnered with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz, have already declared their intentions to launch generic Copaxone when Teva’s patent expires. Teva doesn’t have much time left to switch patients over to its new, thrice-weekly Copaxone injection before generics jump on the current product.
The injectable treatment, Copaxone, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries multiple sclerosis drug’s patent is about to run out and according to Bloomberg News, The U.S. Supreme Court took no action on the four Teva patents that expire in May that would have blocked generic competition until September 2015.
Last quarter according to Bloomberg News, the injectable MS drug Copaxone, generated $1.05 billion in revenue for Teva, which accounted for 21% of the company’s top line. However, sales of Copaxone are set to plunge next year, due to rising competition from the newer oral drugs and the expiration of the key patent which expires in May 2014.
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Finding new sources of revenue to offset an expected drop in Copaxone sales will be one of the challenges for Erez Vigodman, who took over as Teva’s chief executive officer, according to Bloomberg News. His predecessor, Jeremy Levin, left after a dispute with the board over how to overhaul Teva.
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