Teva Enters Marketing Deal With Biovail

Israel's largest pharmaceutical company Teva has entered into anexclusive US marketing and product development agreement with Canada's Biovail with respect to the latter's complete pipeline of controlled-release generic products.

The agreement provides Teva with the rights to eight generic versions of successful brands, with current combined US annual sales of more than $2.3 billion. Teva will pay $34.5 million to Biovail, based on certain milestones over the next 12 to 14 months including an upfront payment of $6.5 million.

The products include already-filed generic versions of Cardizem CD (diltiazem), Verelan (verapamil), and Trental (pentoxyfylline). Also included are four cardiovascular products, including Procardia XL (nifedipine) and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. Biovail noted that it hopes to complete the filing of two of these in the coming weeks and the rest next year. No generic versions are currently marketed for five of the eight products.