Wyeth announced on Monday that it would revise the business
plan after rival Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd launched a drug similar to
Protonix, Wyeath’s anti-acid medicine. Due to this fact Wyeth fell in the last
four months in New York trading.
Wyeth said that it will sue the company, which is based in Israel,
for its lost profits and damages, Reuters reports. The trial will begin in the
second half of the next year.
Wyeth executives said that Teva will stop shipments for the
drug for the next 30 days as the two companies will try to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile, Wyeath began to examine everything in the company
in order to cut costs so as to prepare for the impact of Protonix’s generic launch,
which triggered sales of about $1.4 billion in the first nine months of the
year.
Bernard Poussot, Wyeth chief operating officer, said at a
conference call: “We will look at every area of investing and spending.”
He also said that the company is thinking of making
partnerships with other drug companies.
Today, at 10:57 a.m.,
Wyeth fell 3.6 percent, to $45.16 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Petah Tikva, Israel-based Teva, the biggest producer of
generic drugs, raised 3.7 percent, to $46.84, according to Bloomerg.com.
On September 6 a judge ruled that Teva can sell a low-cost
version of Protonix before the latter expires in 2010.
For months the companies have tried to reach an agreement.
Poussot said to investigators: “It is impossible to ascertain
exactly how much of Teva's product has entered or may enter the market. We
continue to explore settlement possibilities but only if this makes sense for
Wyeth and shareholders.”
Also today Wyeth announced that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration rejected for the second time its experimental medicine for the
prevention of post-menopausal osteoporosis
FDA asked for more details about the drug, bazedoxifene, but
according to Wyeth the agency wasn’t satisfied with the answers.
In a statement the company said: "The FDA has requested
further analyses and discussion concerning the incidence of stroke and venous
thrombotic events.”
