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Hafnarfirði, Iceland, Nov 7, 2007 - (Hugin via ABN Newswire) - Reykjavik, Iceland, 7 November 2007 -- Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, today announced the launch of Olanzapine tablets in Germany.
The product is sold via Actavis' third party division, Medis, to other pharmaceutical companies who market the product under their own label. Medis' customers are the first to market a generic version of this product in Germany.
Olanzapine, the generic equivalent of Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. The Actavis product is available as tablets containing 2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg, 10mg, 15mg and 20mg.
Annual branded product sales were about EUR3.3 billion* globally with the German market accounting for about EUR140 million. Zyprexa, which is Lilly's top selling brand, was the fourth highest selling pharmaceutical product in Europe, and in Germany, in 2006.
Generic Olanzapine was developed at Actavis' principal research and development site in Iceland, and is manufactured in Actavis' production plant in Malta for the German market.
Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir, Executive Vice President of Third-party sales, said: "Olanzapine represents a very important addition to Medis' portfolio, and is expected to be one of the third-party sales division's top ten products this year. This is the most important new product launch for the division in 2007. The fact that Actavis completed its development of the product very early, five years prior to patent expiry, made it possible for the company to seize this opportunity. The company's regulatory affairs staff and the production staff in Malta have worked very hard on making this launch possible at this early stage."
The patent for Olanzapine will in most cases expire in September 2011, but a German Patent Court ruled earlier this year that Lilly's patent is invalid, making the launch of a generic version possible now. The first Marketing Authorisations for the product were granted in Germany on 19 October, 2007.
* End of 1st quarter 2007, IMS health data
Enquiries Actavis Group Hjördís Árnadóttir Director External Communications Tel: (+354) 535 2300 / 840 7476 E-mail: harnadottir@actavis.com
About Actavis Group Actavis is one of the world's leading generic pharmaceutical companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in about 40 countries, with 11,000 employees. Actavis expects 2007 sales to total EUR1.6bn, with approximately one-third of these sales coming from the United States, the company's single largest market.
More information about Actavis Group and Medis can be found on the web: www.actavis.com; www.medis.is.
Any statements contained in this press release that refer to Actavis' estimated or anticipated future results or future activities are forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's current analysis of existing trends, information and plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially depending on factors such as the availability of resources, the timing and effect of regulatory actions, the success of new products, the strength of competition, the success of research and development issues, unexpected contract breaches or terminations, exposure to product liability and other lawsuits, the effect of currency fluctuations and other factors.
