US Supreme Court hears Teva arguments in Copaxone case

The highest court in the US will hear a dispute today (October 15) between pharmaceutical company Teva and generic rivals that are looking to market versions of its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate).

The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the case, which pits Israel-based Teva against Sandoz, Mylan, Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Natco Pharma.

Teva is trying to protect its $4 billion-a-year drug, which accounts for half of its profits.

In July last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated Teva’s US patent 5,800,808, which covers a process for manufacturing Copaxone’s active ingredient and expires in September 2015.

The Supreme Court, which agreed to hear Teva’s appeal in May this year, declined to stay the ruling pending an appeal, meaning Copaxone currently has no patent protection and generic companies could market their own cheaper versions.

According to Reuters news agency, Mylan has said it plans to launch a generic version of the drug as soon as it has government approval.

Sandoz and Momenta declined to comment on when they expect their products to be available.

Oral arguments are expected to last one hour and will begin at 10am EDT.

In January, Teva launched a new three-times weekly formulation of Copaxone to extend the product’s lifecycle protected by a new patent.