Ranbaxy receives tentative approval for generic Aricept

NEW DELHI, India Ranbaxy Laboratories has received tentative approval from the Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and sell a generic version of Eisai’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment drug, Aricept, according to Bloomberg.com.

The generic will be available in 5 mg and 10 mg strength tablets.  Aricept had sales of about $2.3 billion for Eisai for the year that ended March 31.  The patent for the drug expires in 2010.

“Eisai is not taking any action at this point as the approval is tentative,” Kazuo Aoshima, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based company, said in a telephone interview.