Judge orders generic Plavix stopped.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

NEW YORK (AFX) - A federal judge blocked sales of a generic version of blood thinner Plavix on Thursday, finding it unlikely that its maker, a Canadian company, could prove that the patent on the drug used by 48 million Americans was invalid.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in Manhattan issued his written ruling Thursday after a two-day hearing in which Sanofi-Aventis and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. insisted the Canadian company, Apotex Inc., must be forced to stop selling its product.

The judge also denied demands by the companies that Apotex be forced to remove from the market the generic product it had already …