HEALTH

Israeli Court Rejects U.S. Drug Firms’ Bid: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said the court rejected a request by Eli Lilly & Co. and Glaxo Wellcome for a court order preventing Teva from making generic versions of their drugs. The decision by the Tel Aviv district court clears the way for Teva to produce lower-priced generic versions of Lilly’s anti-depressant Prozac and Glaxo Wellcome’s herpes treatment Zovirax in Israel, Teva said. The Israeli patent for Prozac expired earlier this year, and Zovirax’s patent in Israel is expected to expire this fall, analysts said. Once Teva begins manufacturing the drugs, analysts said, it may become easier to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell generic Prozac and Zovirax when their U.S. patents expire in the next five years.