Medicis, Teva Agree To Halt Legal Disputes Over Solodyn

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (MRX) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) late Wednesday said they have agreed to halt all legal disputes between them over Medicis' Solodyn Extended Release tablets, which are used to treat acne.

Under the settlement, Teva agreed to immediately stop all further shipments of its generic version of Solodyn, the two companies said in a statement.

Medicis will release Teva from liability related to prior sales of the Israel-based company's generic Solodyn, which were not authorized by Medicis.

Teva has the option to market its generic Solodyn in the 45 milligrams, 90mg, and 135 mg forms under intellectual property rights belonging to Medicis from November 2011, or earlier under certain conditions.

The settlement agreement follows an announcement earlier Wednesday by Teva that was granted final approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its generic version of Solodyn.

Also Wednesday, Medicis said it was denied its petition to block for 30 months the approval of generic versions of Solodyn, an acne treatment that generated more than half its revenue last year. The petition was to block abbreviated new drug applications submitted by Mylan Inc., Novartis AG unit Sandoz Inc. and Barr Laboratories Inc.