Just one week after their patent litigation erupted in a flurry of shipments of generic versions of the Pulmicort Respules asthma med, AstraZeneca and Teva Pharmaceuticals have a struck deal.

You may recall that a January 12 trial was scheduled, but Teva last week undertook an ‘at risk’ launch, presumably because Teva execs concluded they would win the case. The risk, of course, was that Teva would have had to pay AstraZeneca triple damages if it lost the case. That is now history, though (the AstraZeneca statement).

Under the settlement, Teva concedes that AstraZeneca patents are valid and enforceable, and that its generic version infringes AstraZeneca’s patents. But the deal will allow Teva to begin sales of a copycat under an exclusive license from AstraZeneca beginning December 15, 2009, and AstraZeneca will receive a “significant” undisclosed royalty, with a marked step down in payments if additional at-risk generic products enter the marketplace.

Teva also agreed to pay AstraZeneca an undisclosed sum in damages for its unauthorized launch of a generic last week, although any product already shipped by Teva will remain in the market to be further distributed and dispensed. And AstraZeneca intends to continue to sell Pulmicort Respules, even after the licensed entry of Teva’s product in December 2009, but will no longer sell its own so-called authorized generic. Further terms are confidential.