JERUSALEM, June 23 (UPI) -- As cholesterol drug Zocor loses patent Friday, a battle is brewing between Teva and Novartis over the coveted generic market.
Novartis has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block Teva from becoming the first company to market a generic version of Merck's top-selling anti-cholesterol drug, Teva said in a statement Friday.
Novartis' generic division Sandoz is asking the court to stop the Food and Drug Administration from approving Teva's drug pending the court's decision on Sandoz's own Zocor copy.
Sandoz wants the court to force the FDA to approve its generic drug so it can be the first company to enter the lucrative generic market and win six months' exclusivity under the Hatch-Waxman Act. A hearing on the matter was set for Friday morning.
The same court ruled in April that Teva was entitled to six months' market exclusivity for its generic formulation of Zocor (simvastatin) in 5 mg, 10 mg 20 mg and 40 mg strengths, Teva said.
The Food and Drug Administration is appealing that decision, Teva noted.
