Teva was about to distribute apixaban, a very common anticoagulant, after the favorable ruling of a court in Barcelona. But another court in Madrid has prevented it after an appeal by the company that has the patent.

Apixaban can replace the historic sintrom in many patients. It is the third medication sold in pharmacies that generates the highest expenditure for public health (307 million euros last year). The entry of the generic into the market was going to mean a price decrease of 45%, and this would stand at 45.08 euros. Each box of the presentation of 60 2.5mg pills of Eliquis, which is the brand under which Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) sells the drug, costs 81.96 euros in pharmacies. The generic version of the drug would cost only 45% of the price of the original. The company that owns the patent asked another court to declare precautionary measures so that the generic did not go on the market, something that he finally achieved. Since March 1, public health has been paying 380,000 euros per day more than it would have been doing if Teva's generic had been on the market. The savings not achieved by the autonomous communities (which are the ones that pay for the medicines) to 18.2 million euros. In the United Kingdom, by a final ruling - Teva has achieved the nullity of the patent in the first instance and on appeal - and in other countries, "either because the judge, without having decided, understands that there are sufficient elements to consider that the patent may be null" Teva is allowed to launch the generic and, in the event that the ruling finally proves BMS right, compensation will then be set, explain legal sources familiar with the case. The objection to the BMS Eliquis patent raised by Teva is based on the fact that the protection enjoyed by the medicine should be annulled because it lacks two patents. The patent was issued by BMS, which says the company's rights are valid and remain in force.