Ranbaxy: To Share Part Of Profits From Generic Lipitor Sales With Teva

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (500359.BY) Thursday said it has launched a generic version of Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) top-selling Lipitor cholesterol-lowering drug in the U.S. following an agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA TEVA.TV).

"A portion of the profits from sales of atorvastatin [generic version of Lipitor] during Ranbaxy's 180-day first-to-file exclusivity period will be paid to Teva," the Indian generic drugs maker and unit of Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (4568.TO) said in a statement.

The terms of the agreement with Teva will not be disclosed, it added.

Ranbaxy had early Thursday received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell a cheaper copy of Lipitor.

Quality control and data reporting issues at Ranbaxy had delayed approval from the FDA, despite the company being the first to file for approval of a generic version of Lipitor and to challenge the Lipitor patents in 2002. The first successful generic challenger gets 180 days of sales exclusivity under U.S. law.

-By Rumman Ahmed, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-9845104173; [e-mail]