Actavis launches Olanzapine on day one in four European countries

Actavis launched Olanzapine tablets in Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary immediately after the patents expired on 24 April.

Olanzapine is the generic equivalent of the brand product Zyprexa® from Eli Lilly. It is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. The product is launched in two forms by Actavis at this time; as film coated tablets in Bulgaria, orodispersible tablets in Slovakia and Hungary, and in both forms in Spain.

Olanzapine Actavis was developed at Actavis’ R&D site in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland and produced at the Company‘s manufacturing site in Malta.

Actavis launched Olanzapine in Germany in September 2007, after a German Patent Court ruled that Lilly’s patent was invalid, making the launch of a generic version possible. In other European countries, the patents for Olanzapine will in most cases expire in September 2011.