Wyeth sees new competition for Effexor anti-depressant drug
Posted on Dec 20th 2007 7:22PM by Brian WhiteFiled Under: Celebs & Entertainment
Effexor, the best-selling anti-depression drug in the world (sales) may now have a new competitor. In what could happen more and more, an Indian pharmaceutical company has applied to the FDA to sell a drug in pill form instead of capsule.
The dinger: the new drug, which will be sold as a generic, will have the same active ingridient at Wyeth's $3.7 billion-a-year Effexor drug. Think that's a threat? Sure -- big-time.
The difference here that makes this potential new anti-depressant such a big deal is because it comes in an extended-release tablet as opposed to a capsule (which is under Wyeth patent protection until 2010). Nothing like finding a loophole for new drug sales, huh?
The dinger: the new drug, which will be sold as a generic, will have the same active ingridient at Wyeth's $3.7 billion-a-year Effexor drug. Think that's a threat? Sure -- big-time.
The difference here that makes this potential new anti-depressant such a big deal is because it comes in an extended-release tablet as opposed to a capsule (which is under Wyeth patent protection until 2010). Nothing like finding a loophole for new drug sales, huh?








