July 31 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

raised the lower end of its annual profit forecast on

Wednesday, banking on strong sales of its copycat medicines and

branded drug for the Huntington's disease.

Teva now expects its profit for the full year 2024 to be

between $2.30 and $2.50 per share, compared with its previous

expectation of $2.20-$2.50 per share.

The company sees its branded medicine trio - Austedo for

treating the Huntington's disease, Ajovy for migraine and

recently launched Uzedy for schizophrenia - as growth drivers.

Teva said it expects Austedo revenue of about $1.6 billion

for the full year, slightly higher than its previous expectation

of $1.5 billion.

It also aims to launch six biosimilar drugs by 2027

globally, including Simlandi and psoriasis treatment Selarsdi -

a copycat of Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster drug Stelara. Teva

developed both these drugs with Alvotech ( ALVO ).

It expects full-year revenue in the range of $16 billion to

$16.4 billion, compared with its previous range of $15.7 billion

to $16.3 billion.

U.S.-listed shares of Teva rose nearly 2% to $16.72 in

premarket trading.