Ranbaxy set for Rs 1000 crore boost from Valtrex clone

Gurgaon-based Ranbaxy Laboratories has launched generic Valtrex (valacyclovir hydrochloride) tablets in the US, over two years after it settled a patent dispute with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and secured a 180-day sales exclusivity for it.

It has launched 500 mg and 1 gm tablets of valacyclovir hydrochloride in the US market. The opportunity is worth about $200 million, or Rs 1,000 crore, for Ranbaxy. Valacyclovir is an antiviral drug used to treat genital herpes, cold sores and shingles. It is also categorised as a prodrug, which means a pharmacological substance that is administered in an inactive form but metabolises into an active form within the body.

The US Patent and Trademark Office first issued a patent on valacyclovir to Burroughs Wellcome Co in 1990. In 1995, Glaxo Inc merged with Burroughs Wellcome to become Smithkline Beecham Corp and started doing business as GSK. In 2003, GSK filed a law suit against Ranbaxy, charging it with infringement of its patent on the drug. Ranbaxy, too, filed a suit challenging the validity of GSK's patent. In July 2007, the two companies reached an agreement and settled the dispute.