Actavis launches five new products in USA

Icelandic generic drugmaker Actavis is spearheading the planned expansion of its own-label sales (Marketletter March 27) with the launch of five new products in the USA, the world's largest pharmaceuticals market .

The new additions to its portflio include dantrolene, the generic equivalent of Dantrium, Procter & Gamble's drug for chronic spasticity and malignant hyperthermia, and isradipine, the generic equivalent of Reliant's blood pressure agent, DynaCirc.

The firm will also introduce: amantadine: a copy-cat version of Endo Pharmaceutical's Symmetrel, a treatment for the symptoms of influenza A virus, as well as Parkinson's and drug-induced extra-pyramidal reactions; dipyridamole, the active ingredient of Boehringer Ingelheim's anti-platelet drug Persantine; and spironolactone, the generic of Pfizer's Aldactone, for hyperaldosteronism, edema, hypertension and hypokalemia.