Generic Brands

Pfizer Inc. said Thursday that it planned to introduce a generic version of its antidepressant Zoloft in the United States as soon as a rival generic hits the market, possibly as early as Saturday. Pfizer's new version of Zoloft, which generated U.S. sales of almost $2.6 billion in 2005, is known as an authorized generic. Its introduction is part of a growing trend among drug makers of competing head-on with generic drug makers.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. won final regulatory clearance Friday to market its generic version of cholesterol medication Zocor after a federal judge threw out a motion from a rival company. The Israeli company has already started shipping its versions of the four different dose strengths it has been approved to sell. Indian drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. won approval to sell the highest dosage of the pill, which isn't commonly prescribed. Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S.

Aetna Inc. said Thursday that it would buy discounted copies of the cholesterol drug Zocor from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. rather than accept an offer from Merck & Co. to sell its branded pill for less than the generic. Aetna patients will pay more out-of-pocket for Merck's Zocor than Teva's generic, Aetna said. Eric Elliott, Aetna's pharmacy manager, said the Hartford, Conn.

Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. won tentative U.S. regulatory approval to sell copies of Merck & Co.'s Zocor cholesterol drug, and said sales might start in June. Still at issue is the ability of Teva, the world's biggest generic drug maker, to sell the pills exclusively for six months under a U.S. rule designed to promote cheaper generics.

The nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager announced Friday that it was distributing more generic drugs than brand-name counterparts, a sign that costly brand-name prescription medicines may be losing their grip on the market, leading to lower drug costs for consumers. The trend is significant because even more generic prescription drugs are expected to hit the market in the near future.

When two competing generic drugs come on the market, the average generic price can drop to half the cost of the comparable brand-name product, according to a U.S. government study released Tuesday. The study by the Food and Drug Administration found that savings weren't as significant when only one generic drug was on the market: the price of the generic drug is typically 6% less than the brand-name competition.

The maker of the antidepressant Paxil has agreed to pay $14 million to states to settle allegations that it blocked generic versions of the drug from being made, forcing the states to pay higher prices. London-based GlaxoSmithKline denied any wrongdoing and was not admitting liability in making the settlement. "We made the decision that settling was appropriate to avoid the expense and distraction of protracted litigation," company spokeswoman Gaile Renegar said.

GlaxoSmithKline lost a bid to prevent sales of generic versions of its $900-million-a-year allergy drug Flonase. Boehringer Ingelheim's generic version could reach the market today after U.S. District Judge Andre Davis in Baltimore refused to block sales while Glaxo pursues a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration.

Allergan Inc. said it won a ruling temporarily blocking Apotex Inc. from making or selling a generic version of a treatment for eye inflammation. The ruling, issued Dec. 29 by U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco, temporarily prohibits Apotex from manufacturing or selling a generic version of Allergan's Acular in the U.S., Allergan spokeswoman Caroline Van Hove said. Irvine-based Allergan, which also makes the anti-wrinkle drug Botox, sued Apotex over patents for Acular in 2001.

Makers of generic drugs are gearing up for a big year as blockbuster brand-name medicines such as Zocor, Zoloft, Pravachol and Ambien are set to lose U.S. patent protection. But analysts caution that stocks in producers of cheaper versions of those drugs are not sure bets. Many stocks in generic-drug makers already had a strong 2005 ahead of the opportunity -- notably Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Ivax Corp. and Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.