Jan 26 (Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would begin selling a generic version of Sanofi's Lovenox blood clot preventer after a U.S. appeals court stayed a preliminary injunction that had halted the drug's launch.
Shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, which was previously the lone seller of enoxaparin, the generic version of Lovenox, fell more than 20 percent.
Watson, which has exclusive U.S. rights to distribute enoxaparin manufactured by privately held Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, said it would begin selling the injectable blood thinner immediately.
However, Watson cautioned that the stay of the preliminary injunction granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit does not represent a final court decision with respect to merits of the pending appeal or the original lawsuit, which was brought by Momenta.
Momenta said it was confident of the strength of its enoxaparin patents and will continue to pursue its claims in U.S. district court. It noted that sale of the drug by Watson would be a so-called "at risk" launch that would subject Watson and Amphastar to penalties should Momenta prevail in court.
Jefferies analyst Corey Davis suggested in a research note that Watson's announcement of an immediate launch could be a ploy to gain a settlement with Momenta and avoid further litigation.
"We surmise that this immediate launch by Watson/Amphastar is a maneuver to elicit a patent settlement out of Momenta," Davis said. "A short partial launch by Watson followed by a quick settlement would have a positive, though not material, impact on Watson's 2012 numbers."
JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a research note that a full Watson launch of enoxaparin could add 15 to 30 cents per share to the company's annual earnings.
Watson on Tuesday forecast 2012 earnings of $5.25 to $5.55 per share, excluding items. It did not factor generic Lovenox into its forecasts until 2013.
Watson and Amphastar won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell a second Lovenox generic last September.
Momenta filed its lawsuit seeking to halt additional generics within days of the FDA decision and a U.S. court in late October issued an order temporarily preventing the sale of rival generics.
Lovenox, which is a type of heparin and primarily used in hospitals, had been one of Sanofi's top-selling drugs with annual sales approaching $4 billion for the French drugmaker before Momenta began selling its generic in the summer of 2010.
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