German court backs immediate generic Plavix

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) and its U.S. partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) suffered a setback on Tuesday when a German court backed immediate marketing approval for generic versions of their blockbuster blood-thinning drug Plavix.

Sanofi said it and Bristol-Myers would appeal against the two decisions.

Plavix is the second-biggest product for Sanofi and the largest seller for the smaller U.S. company. Shares in Bristol-Myers fell around 2 percent on the news, while Sanofi stock was down 1.4 percent in New York trading.

Prior to the decisions, the marketing authorisations had been suspended. But the German administrative court in Cologne ordered immediate enforcement of marketing authorisations held by generic drug company Yes and by a subsidiary of Ratiopharm for their clopidogrel besylate products.

Another similar case remains pending before the same court.

Clopidogrel besylate is a generic formulation of Plavix, which also goes under the brand name Iscover.

Sanofi and Bristol, which are just recovering from defeating generic competition to Plavix in the United States, have been facing a generic threat in Europe since May, when Switzerland's Schweizerhall SWHN.S first announced it was close to winning approval for its generic form of Plavix.

Sandoz/Hexal, the German generics unit of Novartis (NOVN.VX), said it would act as marketing agent for Schweizerhall.