Israeli drugmaker Teva loses appeal against EU fine -EU court ruling

BRUSSELS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The General Court of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that Israeli drugmaker Teva and Cephalon must pay a 60.5 million euro fine by the European Commission for delaying the market entry of a cheaper generic version of Cephalon's drug for sleep disorders that Teva sought to challenge in court.

"In the context of the examination of the first plea, it has been established that the payments provided for in the commercial transactions contained in the settlement agreement had no plausible explanation other than to induce Teva to accept the restrictive clauses of that agreement and thus to refrain from competing with Cephalon on the merits on the modafinil markets," the court said in its ruling. (Reporting by Marine Strauss; Editing by Bernadette Baum)