Bristol-Myers Gets 6 Days to Fight Taxol Ruling

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Santa Monica-based American BioScience Inc. were given six days to try to stop a federal judge’s order that could clear the way for a generic version of Bristol-Myers’ breast cancer drug Taxol. U.S. District Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. in Los Angeles said he would delay until Wednesday an order he issued this week that would force Bristol-Myers to remove American BioScience’s Taxol-related patent from the Food and Drug Administration’s list of valid patents. The patent listing could prevent Ivax Corp. from marketing its generic version of Taxol for as long as 30 months. Byrne refused American BioScience’s request to stay his order, but he said he would delay it until next week to allow time for the closely held drug maker to seek a stay from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which American BioScience plans to do. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission said it is investigating whether Bristol-Myers and American BioScience may have colluded to delay a generic Taxol from coming to market. New York-based Bristol-Myers made $1.5 billion in Taxol sales last year. Experts say a generic version would cut those sales in half. In New York Stock Exchange trading, Ivax rose $2 to close at $40 and Bristol-Myers fell 19 cents to close at $50.75.