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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/mylan-is-eager-to-launch-rival-version-of-biogens-biggest-selling-drug-51592578852\nMylan Is Eager to Launch Rival Version of Biogen’s Biggest-Selling Drug After Court Win\nBill Alpert\nJune 19, 2020 11:00 am ET\nDhiraj Singh/Bloomberg\nMylan is pressing regulators to approve its generic version of Biogen’s bestselling drug, after defeating Biogen’s patent suit on Thursday.\n“[W]e are working with the FDA to accelerate our regulatory approval target action date,” Mylan chief executive Heather Bresch said after a federal-district court in West Virginia ruled that the patent on Biogen’s multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera was invalid.\nNovember 16 is the target date for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to act on Mylan’s generic approval, but Mylan wants to be able to launch sooner. A sales launch by Mylan would be a bold move, since Biogen said it will appeal its trial court loss. If a higher court restores the patent, Mylan would owe damages for infringing sales. That’s why the industry calls such a launch—before final appeals—”at risk.”\nTecfidera is worth $4 billion a year in sales to Biogen. After Thursday’s patent win, Mylan stock (ticker: MYL) gained 2% to close at $16.33. Biogen (BIIB) closed down 8% at $260.\nFriday morning, Mylan was up 1% to $16.44, while Biogen was up 2% to $264.80.\nMylan’s willingness to launch at risk could be a bet that an appeals court will show the usual deference to the fact findings of U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley. She wrote that the patent failed to describe the drug treatment that Biogen sells as Tecfidera.\nGeneric drug companies make their best profits when they have the only generic product on the market. Right now, Mylan’s potential generic rivals are tied up in separate litigation in Delaware. In its news release Thursday, Mylan said it believes it is one of the first to complete a generic application, which could entitle it to 180 days as the exclusive generic alternative to Tecfidera. Such exclusivity periods are worth a lot in the generic business.\nEven before Mylan’s win, RBC Capital Markets analyst Randall Stanicky rated the stock a buy, with a $26 price target. The company is in the process of acquiring a 43% interest in Upjohn, the subsidiary of Pfizer (PFE) that markets the drug giant’s off-patent brands like Lipitor and Viagra. Along with a bunch of other generic makers, Mylan will be defending a 606-page price-fixing complaint filed last week by a group of state attorneys general. Stanicky expects the case to go on for years.\nBiogen, meanwhile, is under pressure to fill the looming hole in Tecfidera sales. Stanicky thinks it may start shopping for acquisitions, and sees Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) and Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) as good fits.\nWrite to Bill Alpert at william.alpert@barrons.com"