Teva's stock falls after report FTC has opened probe of patents

By Ciara Linnane

Agency cited generics maker's refusal to take down roughly two dozen patents for its asthma and COPD inhalers, says report

Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.'s stock fell 2% Monday after a report said the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the Israeli generics company, citing its refusal to take down roughly two dozen patents for its asthma and COPD inhalers.

The report by the Washington Post said the agency last week sent a civil investigative demand, a type of subpoena, to Teva, ordering it to provide it with certain internal communications and data related to the patents, which are listed in a federal registry called the Orange Book.

The FTC says companies like Teva have made small tweaks to their products to keep them in the Orange Book and stave off competition in the generics space, according to confidential agency documents reviewed by the Post

Teva (TEVA) charges hundreds of dollars for its inhalers in the U.S., but sells them for much less overseas.

"Teva believes that its patents are properly listed in the Orange Book and continues to stand behind the company's intellectual property," a spokeswoman told MarketWatch by email.

Teva has a July 24 deadline to cooperate with the FTC's demands.

The FTC has been clamping down on what it deems to be "junk" patent listings for some time and in April it said it was challenging hundreds of them, as the Wall Street Journal reported.

The FTC has argued that drugmakers needlessly list extra patents in the Orange Book, delaying generic alternatives and artificially keeping prices high.

The agency sent letters to 10 companies, including Teva, warning them that their patent listings were invalid. The letters targeted patents for 20 drug products that included diabetes treatment Ozempic.

It also included inhalers and more diabetes treatments from AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), Boehringer Ingelheim, Covis Pharma, GSK Ltd. (GSK) (UK:GSK) Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NVS), Novo Nordisk (DK:NOVO.B) (NVO), Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMPH) and some of their subsidiaries.

Congressional Democrats have also pressured companies to voluntarily withdraw patents, with Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and other lawmakers opening a probe into the high price of inhalers.

Teva refused to lower the costs of its devices, according to the Washington Post.

The stock has gained 54% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 14.5%.

-Ciara Linnane

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07-01-24 1129ET

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