AstraZeneca wins legal round in Teva Seroquel row

Tue Jul 1, 2008 10:39pm BST

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.O) said on Tuesday that AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) won the latest court battle in their patent dispute over a generic version of AstraZeneca's blockbuster schizophrenia drug.

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted summary judgment in AstraZeneca's favour in the case, according to Jerusalem-based Teva.

Teva, one of the world's biggest makers of generic drugs, said it would appeal the ruling.

AstraZeneca is fending off the threat of generic competition for Seroquel, which had $4 billion (2 billion pounds) in worldwide sales last year. It is known generically as quetiapine and is the company's second biggest seller.

(Reporting by Kim Dixon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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