Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, India’s second-largest drugmaker, will be allowed to sell a generic version of Wyeth’s antidepressant drug starting June 1 following an agreement with the unit of Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer spokesman Christopher Loder, who confirmed the agreement in an email yesterday, declined to disclose financial terms of the deal. Wyeth, a unit of the world’s largest drugmaker, and Dr Reddy’s reached a settlement to sell the drug Effexor XR in the New Jersey Federal Court, Press Trust of India reported on April 22.
Pfizer last year sold $1.7 billion of Effexor, which was Wyeth’s best-selling antidepressant drug until 2008, before cheaper generic version were released. The company has previously settled patent-infringement suits regarding Effexor it filed against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Anchen Pharmaceuticals and Impax Laboratories Inc.
Dr Reddy’s fell 1.2 per cent to Rs 1,656.8 in Mumbai on April 21. The shares have declined 0.4 per cent this year compared with a 1.6 per cent advance in the MSCI AC Asia Pacific excluding Japan Health Care Index.
Wockhardt will also start sales of generic version of the drug from June 1 after getting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement on April 19.
Pfizer lost exclusivity for Effexor in July 2010, the company said in its 2010 annual report. Dr Reddy’s Managing Director Satish Reddy didn’t respond to a call made to his office today.