Zyprexa

"The news is also good for big pharma in general as one of trends in recent years is generic companies setting out to sell drugs potentially years before the patents actually expire on the branded products," McGowan said.

Under terms of the proposed Apotex settlement, Sanofi-Aventis would grant Apotex a royalty-bearing license to sell clopidogrel bisulfate in the United States once the patent expires in 2011.

Clopidogrel is the chemical name for Plavix.

Plavix is by far the biggest product for the drugmakers, with Bristol reporting about $3.8 billion in 2005 U.S.

Plavix sales, and the possibility that it could lose patent protection had been a huge uncertainty hanging over them.

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Analysts at Morgan Stanley presented a rosier picture.

In a report issued last month they reiterated their "overweight" rating on Barr and raised the target price from $70 to $75.

Barr spokeswoman Carol Cox said the company had not heard from the FDA regarding Plan B and Clinton's and Murray's attempt to force action on the issue.

"We provided our public comment back in November ...

and that's the last interaction we've had with the FDA," Cox told United Press International.

She said Seasonale sales were "doing very well" and the drug was showing "record prescriptions on a weekly basis." Danco is facing a potentially bleaker scenario.

The two additional deaths, which were announced late last week, bring the total number of fatalities associated with Mifeprex to seven in North America.

Several conservative congressmen and anti-abortion-rights groups have called for the drug to be taken off the market, although there does not appear to be any evidence to conclusively indicate the cause of the deaths was Mifeprex.

The FDA said it was investigating the latest two fatalities and was not able to...

Some analysts also fear that Lilly's Cymbalta, introduced in September 2004 to treat diabetic peripheral-neuropathic pain, cannot continue to grow at a strong pace in 2006.

In its first full year on the market in 2005, Cymbalta sales rose over 600%, but have slowed in recent months amidst increasing competition.

The slowdown has raised questions about whether Cymbalta can be the $2 billion-plus blockbuster that Lilly fans believe it will be in two or three years.

In a recent report, Kavita Thomas, an analyst with First Global, a London securities firm, wrote: "The major risk remains stagnant And Cymbalta's growth has clearly moderated during the past few months." And she maintained: "Lilly doesn't possess a very strong pipeline, with just a few molecules in the late- development stage, which we believe is an obstacle for any potential upside for the stock.

We believe Lilly's shares are fairly valued in the near term." Company officials strongly disagree, noting that Lilly has lau...