AstraZeneca allows Teva to market generic Entocort EC

JERUSALEM Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and AstraZeneca have reached a settlement that will allow Teva to market its generic version of a drug for treating Crohn’s disease, the Israeli generic drug maker said Tuesday.

Teva will begin marketing budesonide capsules in February 2012, a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Entocort EC.

Entocort EC capsules have annual sales of around $265 million, according to IMS Health. The drug will lose patent protection as a treatment for adults with Crohn’s disease in July 2014 and lose protection as a treatment for children in January 2015, according to Food and Drug Administration records.