Ranbaxy Announces Settlement of Actos(R) (Pioglitazone Hydrochloride) Patent Litigation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, along with its wholly owned subsidiary Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (collectively, "Ranbaxy"), announced today that they have reached an agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America resolving outstanding patent litigation related to Ranbaxy's generic equivalent version of Actos® (Pioglitazone Hydrochloride) 15 mg, 30 mg and 45 mg tablets.  Under terms of the agreement, Takeda granted Ranbaxy a non-exclusive royalty free license to its U.S. patents covering Actos®.  Under the terms of the agreement, Ranbaxy has certainty in the launch of its generic equivalent formulation of Actos® on August 17, 2012, or earlier under certain circumstances.  

Actos® had approximately $3.4 billion in brand sales for the twelve months ending December 31, 2009, according to IMS Health.  Actos® is a once-daily oral prescription medication that, with diet and exercise, has been shown to be effective for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

"This agreement will allow RPI to bring to patients with diabetes a generic alternative in this important therapeutic area," according to Jim Meehan, Vice President of Sales and Distribution for RPI.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) based in Jacksonville, Florida, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL), India's largest pharmaceutical company.  RPI is engaged in the sale and distribution of generic and branded prescription products in the U.S. healthcare system.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, headquartered in India, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy's continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research. The Company's foray into Novel Drug Delivery Systems has led to proprietary "platform technologies", resulting in a number of products under development.  The Company is serving its customers in over 125 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 46 countries and manufacturing operations in 7 countries.  Ranbaxy is a member of the Daiichi Sankyo Group.  Daiichi Sankyo is a leading global pharma innovator, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

* Actos® is a registered trademark of Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd.

SOURCE Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited