Yea another generic will soon be on the shelf...hooray!!

Barr Gets FDA OK for Generic Mirapex

Tuesday February 19, 3:21 pm ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080219/barr_..._fda.html?.v=1

Barr Pharmaceuticals Gets FDA OK to Market Generic Version of Boehringer's Drug Mirapex MONTVALE, N.J. (AP) -- Generic drug maker Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday federal regulators granted final marketing approval to its generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s drug Mirapex for Parkinson's disease.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Barr's abbreviated new drug application for pramipexole dihydrochloride (Mirapex) at 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 milligram dosages.

The company believes it is the first to file an abbreviated new drug application with a paragraph IV certification for Mirapex at those dosages. A Paragraph IV certification indicates that a generic drug would infringe an existing patent, but the company claims that the patent is not valid.

The drug is indicated for signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease, which is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.

Barr is challenging a patent protecting Mirapex, and a trial is scheduled to begin on March 10, in the District Court in Delaware.

Under terms of a court order, Barr has not yet launched the pramipexole dihydrochloride.

Shares of Barr rose 49 cents to $50.45 in afternoon trading.

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Barr Pharmaceuticals Receives Final Approval for Generic Mirapex(R) Tablets, 0.125mg, 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg & 1.5mg

2/19/2008
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.a...D=86608&full=1

MONTVALE, N.J., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc., has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Mirapex(R) Tablets (Pramipexole Dihydrochloride) 0.125mg, 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg & 1.5mg. The Company believes that it is the first to file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with a paragraph IV certification for Mirapex Tablets, 0.125mg, 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg & 1.5mg.

The Company is currently challenging a patent protecting Mirapex and a trial is scheduled to begin on March 10, 2008 in the District Court in Delaware. Under the terms of a Court Order, Barr has agreed not to launch its Pramipexole Dihydrochloride tablets product until the earliest of the following occurs: 90 days following the conclusion of the presentation of evidence in the District Court trial, the date a favorable judgment for Barr is entered by the District Court, or July 14, 2008.

Barr filed its ANDA for generic Mirapex Tablets, 0.25mg containing a paragraph IV certification with the FDA in May 2005 and in June 2005 amended its application to include the tablet strengths 0.125mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, and 1.5mg. The Company received notification of the application's acceptance for filing in July 2005. Following receipt of the notice from the FDA, Barr notified Boehringer Ingelheim, the New Drug Application (NDA) holder and patent owner. On September 26, 2005, Boehringer Ingelheim filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware to prevent Barr from proceeding with the commercialization of its product, formally initiating the patent challenge process under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Barr's Pramipexole Dihydrochloride tablets are indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

About Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical company that operates in more than 30 countries worldwide and is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. A holding company, Barr operates through its principal subsidiaries: Barr Laboratories, Inc., Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and PLIVA d.d. and its subsidiaries. The Barr Group of companies markets more than 120 generic and 26 proprietary products in the U.S. and approximately 1,025 products globally outside of the U.S. For more information, visit www.barrlabs.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by their use of words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates" and other words of similar meaning. Because such statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements depending upon a number of factors affecting the Company's business. These factors include, among others: the difficulty in predicting the timing and outcome of legal proceedings, including patent-related matters such as patent challenge settlements and patent infringement cases; the outcome of litigation arising from challenging the validity or non-infringement of patents covering our products; the difficulty of predicting the timing of FDA approvals; court and FDA decisions on exclusivity periods; the ability of competitors to extend exclusivity periods for their products; our ability to complete product development activities in the timeframes and for the costs we expect; market and customer acceptance and demand for our pharmaceutical products; our dependence on revenues from significant customers; reimbursement policies of third party payors; our dependence on revenues from significant products; the use of estimates in the preparation of our financial statements; the impact of competitive products and pricing on products, including the launch of authorized generics; the ability to launch new products in the timeframes we expect; the availability of raw materials; the availability of any product we purchase and sell as a distributor; the regulatory environment in the markets where we operate; our exposure to product liability and other lawsuits and contingencies; the increasing cost of insurance and the availability of product liability insurance coverage; our timely and successful completion of strategic initiatives, including integrating companies (such as PLIVA d.d.) and products we acquire and implementing our new SAP enterprise resource planning system; fluctuations in operating results, including the effects on such results from spending for research and development, sales and marketing activities and patent challenge activities; the inherent uncertainty associated with financial projections; our expansion into international markets through our PLIVA acquisition, and the resulting currency, governmental, regulatory and other risks involved with international operations; our ability to service our significantly increased debt obligations as a result of the PLIVA acquisition; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; and other risks detailed in our SEC filings, including in our Transition Report on Form 10-K/T for the six months ended December 31, 2006.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required under applicable law.