BMS fails to block generic.(Patent dispute)(Bristol Myers Squibb)

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and marketing partner Sanofi-Aventis have failed to delay Apotex from launching a generic version of its clot-preventing drug Plavix. The episode highlights the increasing collusion between pharmaceutical giants and generic firms to protect lucrative drug markets and avoid the courts, but is a prime example of how not to do it.

Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) accounts for nearly a third of BMS's revenue. US annual sales ending June 2006 were $3.77bn, according to IMS Health. The drug was approved in 1997, but patent protection expires in 2012. However, generics firm Apotex challenged the patent four years ago, although its generic was only …