Merck settles with Teva over cholesterol drugs

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries settled a lawsuit brought by Merck & Co by agreeing to hold off until 2017 on sales of generic versions of cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia, according to court documents. The agreement, filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday, settles lawsuits filed by Merck.
Vytorin, which posted 2010 sales of $2 billion, combines Merck's older statin Zocor, or simvastatin, with the newer cholesterol-fighter Zetia, or ezetimibe, which had sales last year of $2.3 billion. The case was Schering Corp vs Teva Pharmaceuticals USA in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, 10cv4473.