Shares in Denmark's Novo Nordisk, whose own rival to Lantus, called Levemir, accounts for 15 percent of its sales, rose 3.64 percent to 219 Danish crowns. "Any delay provides Sanofi and Novo increased pricing power in the $6 billion U.S. basal insulin market," Citigroup analysts wrote. Deutsche Bank analysts said the move also raised the possibility of a further, multiyear extension of exclusivity for Lantus if, in the end, the court found that Sanofi's patents had indeed been infringed. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, comes a month after Eli Lilly applied to the FDA for permission to sell a biosimilar version of Lantus, known chemically as insulin glargine. Indianapolis-based Lilly, in its FDA submission, challenged the validity of several patents on Lantus. But it also said it would not launch its product before Sanofi's patent on the active ingredient in Lantus expires in February 2015.