COPAXONE LEADS IN NEW PRESCRIPTIONS

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.  acting CEO Eyal Desheh today said that Copaxone continued to lead in new prescriptions for multiple sclerosis in the third quarter of 2013, despite competition in the market.
In the conference call following the publication of Teva's financial report, Desheh said that Copaxone continued to lead in new prescriptions for multiple sclerosis in the US. "Despite the competition, Copaxone leads in prescriptions and in new prescriptions," he said.

Copaxone sales rose 1% in the third quarter to $1.05 billion.

Copaxone's latest rival is Tecfidera, made by Biogen Idec Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB), which had $280 million in sales in the third quarter, $50 million more than the analysts' forecasts. Analysts have marked Tecfidera as a blockbuster, which will reach $3 billion in annual sales.

Commenting on Teva's new therapeutic entities (NTE) program, on which the company is pinning its hopes, Desheh predicts that these generic drugs will have billions of dollars in annual sales with higher profit margins than regular generics.