Legal manoeuvre delays launch of generic cancer drug

SAPA-AP
A legal manoeuvre by Bristol-Myers Squibb on 15/8 is likely to delay the launch of a less expensive, generic form of Taxol, the world's top selling cancer drug. 

Bristol-Myers listed a new patent on Taxol in response to a court order in its patent infringement suit initiated by American BioScience Inc. The listing with the Food and Drug Administration could delay the agency from granting final approval for Ivax Inc's generic version of Taxol for up to 2 ½ years. 

Taxol, which had $1.5 billion in sales last year, was expected to lose its patent protection later this year, opening the way for Miami-based Ivax Inc to be the first generic drugmaker to produce a cheaper, copycat version. 

Analysts said New York-based Bristol-Myers is interested in doing anything to delay a generic Taxol from coming to market. Generics, which usually cost less than half the price of brand names, can erase about 80 percent of a brand's sales within two years. 

Shares of Bristol-Myers on Tuesday rose $1.875 to $52.50, and Ivax plunged $13 to $29.375, both on the New York Stock Exchange.
(source: SAPA-AP, 16/8/00)