Pep pill

Mumbai, March 22: In what could turn out to be a booster dose for Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (DRL), Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third largest pharmaceutical company, has approached it for postponing the launch of a generic drug. DRL is one of the companies which is planning to launch the generic version of Sanofi’s leading heart ailment drug, Plavix, which generates global sales of $6 billion.

While Sanofi-Aventis and DRL are engaged in a patent dispute over the drug, the multinational drug company’s move could prove to be a windfall for DRL as the latter could rake in a hefty compensation for postponing the launch.

On March 21, Sanofi-Aventis (the innovator of Plavix) and Bristol-Myers Squibb, which markets Plavix in the US, entered into an agreement with Apotex Corp, which is one of the company interested in bringing the generic version of Plavix, to settle the patent infringement lawsuit pending between them in the US district court.

The lawsuit related to the validity of clopidogrel bisulfate, branded as Plavix. The patent for this drug expires on 2011. Apotex and others that included DRL had challenged the validity of this patent.

Under the terms of the settlement, Apotex Inc will not sell the generic version of the drug until September 2011. As a compensation, both Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay an unspecified amount to Apotex.

“Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb have approached Dr Reddy’s to discuss a possible settlement of this matter. The outcome of these discussions cannot be assured,” the pharmaceutical company said in a statement.

This move from Sanofi today sent the DRL scrip soaring on the stock exchanges. The share after opening at Rs 1,364, soared to an intra-day high of Rs 1,513, following which it finished at Rs 1,489.35, a gain of Rs 131, or 9.62 per cent, over its last close.

DRL, has been in the news of late for all the right reasons. Last month, the company entered into the country's first authorised generics deal with the US-based Merck to distribute and sell the generic versions of the latter's Proscar and Zocor after their patent expires in the US market.

Among these two drugs, while Proscar is used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), Zocor, a statin used to lower cholesterol, is Merck’s top selling drug.