Replies to post #108534 on Biotech Values

[tinkershaw]

<<<What is their reasoning for misrepresenting the status of Lovenox?>>>

To keep their share price up. If Teva can get generic lovenox approved, then there really is nothing special about what MNTA did, now is there? If Teva cannot get generic lovenox approved, then dang, perhaps MNTA really does have superlative and unique technology that can just as easily take apart copaxone (counter to Teva's fervant hollering to the contrary).

The longer they can keep the share price up from copaxone FUD, the better it is for Teva. Generic lovenox itself is material, but nothing stupendous to Teva in the long-run, but MNTA's abilityt to recreate copaxone is earth shaking to Teva. The longer they can maintain the fiction that MNTA has done nothing special, the better it is for the share price for investor's being told left and right by analysts and Teva that the copaxone threat is no biggy.

Thats my initial thought on it.

Tinker

[DewDiligence]

Why do baseball managers come out on the field to argue calls with the umpires when they know there is zero chance of getting the calls reversed? The answer is: they are arguing in order to influence the next call.

Teva is doing the same thing, IMO. They are trying to build a case with the investment community and with elected officials in Washington that they have been wronged by the FDA on Lovenox, hoping that this will influence the FDA’s review of MNTA’s Copaxone ANDA and reduce the probability of its being approved.

Teva’s senior executives have publicly proclaimed that the FDA will not approve generic Copaxone without making NVS/MNTA conduct full-fledged clinical trials, and his line has been repeated so many times that Teva’s corporate credibility is very much on the line.

Moreover, Teva has given investors extremely aggressive sales and earnings guidance for 2015 that cannot possibly be achieved if the FDA approves generic Copaxone.

All told, Teva has a very big stake in what the FDA ends up doing with generic Copaxone. Under such circumstances, is it any wonder that Teva is behaving like a baseball manager with respect to Lovenox?