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Lupin says Apotex to sell its drug in US soon

Indian drugmaker Lupin Ltd said it expects its Canadian partner Apotex to soon start selling in the United States a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's antibiotic Ceftin based on a drug that Lupin supplies.

Lupin has already shipped $3.5 million worth of cefuroxime axetil, the antibiotic's key ingredient, to the Canadian company, Lupin chairman Desh Bandhu Gupta told Reuters.

"We are expecting approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration for our product soon," he said on Wednesday.

Apotex will be able to start selling generic Ceftin soon after the approval is granted.

Lupin, India's number one producer of anti-tuberculosis drugs, also makes antibiotics like cephalosporins, a category in which Ceftin falls.

Gupta said Lupin would export $12 million worth of the cefuroxime bulk drug in the year to March 2003. He said it would export $13 million worth of cardiovascular drug lisinopril to Apotex and other partners in the United States during the year.

Lupin reported on Monday its net profit for the past year to March rose 20.3 per cent to Rs 721.8 million on sales that rose six per cent to Rs 9.57 billion.

India's largest drugmaker by sales, Ranbaxy Laboratories, already sells generic Ceftin in the United States after winning a patent battle with GlaxoSmithKline, and has eaten into the British drugmaker's market share there.

The price of the drug could fall after the entry of Apotex's generic version due to competition, analysts said.

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