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Teva lifts 2015 earnings forecast as pursues Mylan bid

* Q1 adjusted EPS $1.36 vs $1.25 forecast

* Q1 revenue $5.0 billion vs $4.84 bln forecast

* Raises 2015 adjusted EPS forecast to $5.05-$5.35

* Prepared to devote all resources to complete Mylan deal

* Teva shares down 1.2 pct in New York (Adds comments on Mylan, Copaxone, analyst, shares)

By Tova Cohen

TEL AVIV, April 30 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries raised its 2015 earnings forecast after beating first-quarter estimates, and said it would devote "all necessary resources" to its $40 billion-plus bid for rival Mylan Inc.

In an attempt to increase its share of the generic drug market, Teva has offered $82 a share in cash and stock for Mylan, but the U.S. company has rejected this as too low.

"From all perspectives this deal is compelling. It makes sense for Teva, it makes sense for Mylan," Teva Chief Executive Erez Vigodman told a conference call of analysts on Thursday.

He said Teva would devote "all necessary resources" to the bid, which it values at $43 billion on a fully diluted basis. Analysts have speculated Teva will have to sweeten its offer to win Mylan shareholders over, but Vigodman declined to comment.

Teva, the world's biggest generic drugmaker, posted first-quarter earnings of $1.36 per diluted share excluding one-time items, compared with $1.23 a year earlier. Revenue was unchanged at $5.0 billion.

That beat forecasts for underlying earnings of $1.25 and revenue of $4.84 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Teva shares were down 1.2 percent at $61.32 in early New York trade.

Revenue from generic drugs rose 9 percent to $2.6 billion, including a 37 percent jump in the United States, mainly due to the launch of a generic version of AstraZeneca's gastrointestinal drug Nexium.

Global sales of Teva's best-selling multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Copaxone, which accounts for about 50 percent of profit, fell 14 percent to $924 million.

Wells Fargo analyst Michael Faerm said revenues from branded drugs were weaker than expected, with the biggest shortfalls coming from Copaxone and Treanda.

Two weeks ago, U.S. regulators approved the first generic version of Copaxone, developed by Sandoz, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Novartis and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc . It is not yet known when they will launch their 20 mg drug Glatopa due to ongoing patent litigation.

Trying to minimise the damage, Teva has been shifting MS patients from a daily 20 mg dose to a three times a week 40 mg formulation. Though the patent of the higher dose expires in 2030, investors fear it will be challenged and possibly nullified as early as 2017.

Teva officials said they felt "very good" about their ability to defend the 40 mg patent.

Teva raised its 2015 estimate for underlying earnings per share to $5.05-$5.35 from $5.00-$5.30. It kept its revenue estimate at $19.0-$19.4 billion and said that assumed a mid-year launch of generic Copaxone.

It declared a quarterly dividend of 34 cents a share.

(Additional reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Mark Potter)

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