Par Pharma Edges Higher To Finish Weekly Gains

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Par Pharmaceutical Cos. continued to rise Friday, capping a week where the company won a patent challenge that could allow it to start selling a generic version of a pain drug, and won FDA approval of a generic blood pressure patch.

Par stock is up 14 percent since the approval Monday, and set an annual high of $21.02 on Wednesday. In afternoon trading, shares rose 22 cents to $20.15.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Adam Greene, who rates the stock at "Sector Perform," said Par has started shipping its clonidine transdermal system. The product received Food and Drug Administration approval Tuesday night. Greene said rival drugmaker Roxane Laboratories is not ready to start shipping its authorized generic version of the drug.

He is expecting Roxane won't be able to get its generic to the market until October, at start of the fourth quarter.

The brand name version of the drug is Catapres TTS, and the patch is sold by German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim.

At least three analysts upgraded the stock on Wednesday. Monday morning, the company said a U.S. District Court overturned two patents on the extended-release pain drug Ultram ER, or tramadol.