Teva's generic version of AstraZeneca's Nexium gets FDA nod

New York

THE US Food and Drug Administration said it approved Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's generic version of AstraZeneca Plc's blockbuster heartburn drug Nexium, the agency's first such approval for the drug.

The approval comes as generic drugmakers scramble to get their versions to the market and AstraZeneca is taken to court over so-called "pay-for-delay" settlements to delay the launch of generics to protect its drug's exclusivity.