Ranbaxy Laboratories, India's No.1 drugmaker by sales, plans to file three to four generic drug applications every year that can earn it a six-month marketing exclusivity in the United States, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.
_0">The first company that seeks approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a generic version of a patented medicine gets exclusive rights to sell it for 180 days after patent expiry.
"We have a very ambitious growth plan for our U.S. business," Arun Sawhney, told Reuters in an interview, a month after the company pleaded guilty in a U.S. Justice Department probe related to drug safety.
"We are targeting three to four first-to-file filings every year... We will be strengthening our dermatology business in the U.S. with a good slew of products in the future."
Ranbaxy is controlled by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co.
(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni; Editing by Sunil Nair)