Ranbaxy’s Augmentin market share to grow

EPP News Bureau - Mumbai

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd (RLL) is expected to start gaining market-share in generic Augmentin (amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid) in the next 2-3 weeks as GSK has lost its trade secret case in a US court, according to analysts here.

Novartis recently announced that it has won an its legal dispute with GSK (the patent holder) concerning generic Augmentin. GSK had sought an order to prevent Geneva (generic arm of Novartis), Teva and Ranbaxy from importing and selling the product in the US, claiming that these companies used a proprietary GSK strain of bacteria to manufacture the generic product. An Administrative Law Judge of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) dismissed GSK’s claims and decided that the strain is not entitled to trade secret protection. Analysts believe that this verdict will also hold true for Teva and Ranbaxy.

‘‘We are not much worried with Ranbaxy not being able to gain market share with generic Augmentin. This is due to large dumping by earlier entrants and that it does not make sense for these players to continue dumping this product,’’ analysts said.