May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dashed Novartis AG's hopes of launching a generic version of Amgen Inc's multibillion-dollar rheumatoid arthritis Enbrel, declining to hear the company's challenge to two patents on the drug.

The justices turned away Novartis subsidiary Sandoz Inc's appeal of a lower court decision that upheld the validity of the patents. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)