Excerpts from Bloomberg article:

Azilect, Teva's second original product, was introduced in 2005 to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's, an incurable disease that destroys patients' nerve functions. Teva needs to replace revenue from its first original drug, Copaxone for multiple sclerosis, before it loses patent protection in 2014. Peak sales of the pill may now surpass $1 billion, instead of an estimated $250 million a year, said Ronny Gal, who follows Teva at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York, in a June 16 interview.

``The importance of this news is that there is scientific confirmation that has been presented before an audience of doctors,'' said Yoav Burgan, an analyst at Leader Capital Markets Ltd. in Tel Aviv.

Today's data may increase Azilect's share of the $3.68 billion global market for Parkinson's disease medicines, said Moshe Manor, who heads up Teva's innovative drug development.

``Now it's proven that if you treat earlier, you can protect the patient from further deterioration,'' Manor said in a telephone interview today. ``This slowing down effect will probably continue to be sustained over time.''

Burning Dopamine

Teva rose 29 cents to $46.87 at 4 p.m. in New York. In Tel Aviv, the stock closed up 2.8 shekels, or 1.7 percent, at 166.80 shekels.

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Neurologists will want to examine the trial results before changing their prescribing habits for Azilect, said Kieran Breen, director of research at the U.K. society, in an Aug. 11 telephone interview.

``That's one of the big problems with Parkinson's -- it's such a heterogeneous condition you have to look at a large number of people over a long period of time,'' Breen said.

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Azilect prescription numbers began to climb on June 16, when Teva first said that the study had achieved all its main goals without disclosing what the goals were, Manor said. He declined to say how much sales have increased.