Two Indian pharma companies got the FDA's approval to sell generic forms of the Novartis epilepsy drug Trileptal. Sun Pharma and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, both based in Mumbai, are OK'd to market the drug in three different strengths. And because there's no patent litigation to worry about, the products can ship ASAP.
Trileptal is by no means Novartis' top-selling drug, but it does bring in a respectable $640 million in the U.S. annually. Sun and Glenmark share the 180-day marketing exclusivity granted first-in-line generics applications. No word yet on how their pricing will compete with Novartis'--or with each other.
Incidentally, this brings Glenmark's generics tally to 20 in the United States, with 35 more copycat drugs wending their way through the FDA approval process.
- see Sun's release
- here's Glenmark's press release (.pfd)
- read the Sun report from the Economic Times
- read the Glenmark article from the Business Standard
Related Article:
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Pharma faces "tidal wave" of generics. Report
Read more on: Generic drugs | Sun Pharmaceuticals | Novartis | India