Last week, generics makers asked the Supreme Court to let them launch their copies of Teva's Copaxone while it hears the Israeli company's appeal over the drug's patents.

Now, they'll likely get that chance. Chief Justice John Roberts rejected Teva's ($TEVA) bid to block competition until the court clash wraps, meaning generics could hit as soon as next month.

Though two generics teams--Novartis' ($NVS) Sandoz unit and Momenta Pharmaceuticals ($MNTA), and Mylan ($MYL) and India's Natco Pharma--are now free to move forward, they'll have to fork over infringement damages if Teva ultimately prevails in court. And that was enough to convince Roberts a court-ordered stay was unnecessary, Bloomberg reports.

"Given the availability of that remedy, the extraordinary relief Teva seeks is unwarranted," he wrote in a one-paragraph opinion, as quoted by the news service.

It's not a risk Teva wanted to take. That's because the price concessions it will be forced to make to compete with generics will be "for all practical purposes irreversible." The multiple sclerosis med accounts for more than half the drugmaker's profit, and it's milking this pre-generics window to switch as many patients as possible over to a new, long-lasting formulation of the drug.