Teva/Sandoz' challenge of AZ's US Seroquel patent set for Aug 2008

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca has confirmed that the US District Court of New Jersey has set an August 11 start date for a trial relating to a patent challenge by Israeli generics giant Teva and Novartis' Sandoz on its drug Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate). The key contested patent is due to expire in 2012, assuming pediatric exclusivity is granted. Lehman Brothers analysts predict that there will be no generic competition before this date. They have not altered their sales forecast on the blockbuster bipolar disorder and schizophrenia drug and expect US sales to constitute 26% of AstraZeneca's 2008 earnings.