Abbott settles patent suit over TriCor with Teva

Abbott Laboratories said Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. won't sell the 145-milligram version of Abbott's TriCor cholesterol-lowering drug until at least 2011 under a patent-infringement lawsuit settlement.

The agreement, with Abbott and patent owner Laboratories Fournier SA, gives Teva the right to sell the medicine beginning March 28, 2011, according to a regulatory filing today. Under certain circumstances, Israel-based Teva may not receive the rights until July 1, 2012.

TriCor generated $1.34 billion in revenue of Abbott's total $29.5 billion last year. The main patent on the drug expires in 2011, and the Abbott Park, Illinois-based company was seeking to prevent Teva, the world's largest generic-drug maker, from entering the market until three other patents on the drug expire in 2018. Teva sells other versions of TriCor, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site.

"This allows Abbott to obtain certainty for our product and avoid risk and costly litigation around our patents," Kelly Morrison, an Abbott spokeswoman, said today by telephone.

Abbott gained full control of the cholesterol drug this year in its September purchase of the pharmaceutical unit of Brussels-based Solvay SA.

Abbott rose 13 cents to $54.21 at 2:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock gained 1.3 percent this year before today.