"Bloomberg" reports that, as of the end of February, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) switched 8.7% of multiple sclerosis patients from the 20 milligram Copaxone dosage to the 40 milligram dosage, which is administered three times a week, instead of daily.
"Teva's early progress in shifting daily Copaxone takers to a new formulation has persuaded some analysts the drugmaker may succeed in converting as many as half of its multiple sclerosis patients," says "Bloomberg". "Leerink Swann & Co. and Cowen & Co. analysts said the results mean the world’s largest maker of generic drugs may deliver on its plan to bring round 30-50% of patients to the three-times-weekly version."
Last week, Barclays Capital and Leerink Swann both raised their target prices for Teva to $65.
Copaxone had $4 billion in sales in 2013, accounting for over half of Teva's profit, according to market estimates. The patent for Copaxone expires in May, and Teva is trying to switch patents to the larger dosage, whose patent expires in 2030.
"Bloomberg" quotes Leerink Swann analyst as saying that the extra cash flow from Copaxone “should provide additional dry powder for management to get aggressive on the M&A front while honoring the dividend." He predicts that a third of Copaxone patients will switch to the new version by the end of 2014.
Bernstein Research analyst Ronny Gal says that Teva can meet the upper end of its 2014 guidance, but wonders how much market share Copaxone will keep when generic versions enter the market.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 11, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014