Hospira relaunches chemotherapy drug

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Hospira has relaunched a generic chemotherapy drug for the U.S. market, the generic drug maker said Thursday.



The company, which specializes in generic injectables, announced the relaunch of oxaliplatin, a version of Sanofi's Eloxatin.



Hospira originally launched oxaliplatin in August 2009 after a court ruled in its favor in a patent-infringement suit filed by Sanofi. Sanofi and Hospira later settled the suit in 2010, requiring Hospira to suspend sales of the drug in June 2010, but allowing it to relaunch ahead of the expiration of Sanofi's patent. The patents on Eloxatin expire between January 2013 and February 2016, according to Food and Drug Administration records.



The Lake Forest, Ill.-based company said the drug had sales of $1.5 billion last year, while IMS Health estimated sales of $1.7 billion for the 12-month period ended in June. Hospira's launch came the same day as Sagent Pharmaceuticals' launch of its own generic version of the drug.

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