Teva Pharma (TEVA) posted 3Q08 results this morning which beat consensus profit estimates by a penny at 72 cents per share on an adjusted basis with record sales coming in slightly below estimates at $2.84B versus $2.9B expected. Revenue increased by 20% while GAAP net income of $637M rose by 21% from the year-ago period. Results were driven by the proprietary multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, which posted sales of $562M, representing a 28% increase from the year-ago period. Cash flow from operations more than doubled from 3Q07 at $710M. Teva also expects to close its acquisition of Barr Pharma (BRL) by year-end with the announcement in late October of Barr’s amended credit facilities, Teva’s cash on-hand and committed bridge financing providing sufficient funds to complete the $7.5B deal.

Another potential boon to Teva and the generic dug industry in 2009 is the potential for U.S. legislation to ease the process for generic versions of high margin biotech drugs, representing another $10B in patent expirations through 2010 – in addition to the $70B in expirations of regular brand name drugs through 2012. CEO Dave Snow of MedcoHealth Solutions (MHS) expressed a bullish outlook for next year on the Company’s conference call yesterday on the prospects for high margin biogenerics and universal healthcare coverage, with the latter expected to increase overall prescription drug use volumes as more people obtain insurance coverage. Ironically, Teva has filed a patent infringement lawsuit to protect Copaxone from generic competition as the Sandoz division of Novartis (NVS) and Momenta Pharma (MNTA) filed an ANDA for generic FDA approval of ‘M356′ earlier this summer.