13 January 2010 - India-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt Ltd (BOM:532300) said today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for marketing the 250 mg, 500 mg and 750 mg tablets of Levofloxacin for treatment of bacterial infections.

Levofloxacin is the generic name for the brand Levaquin (product,search), marketed in the USA by Ortho Mcneil (Johnson & Johnson). Wockhardt will launch the product immediately upon expiration of the patent on 20 June 2011.

Levofloxacin is a very widely used antibacterial drug and belongs to the fluoroquinolone group. According to IMS (product,search), the total market for Levofloxacin tablets in the USA is about USD1.6bn (EUR1.1bn).

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