Perrigo Gets Generic Allegra

Allegan-based Perrigo Co. (Nasdaq: PRGO) Tuesday announced that it has acquired the exclusive United States store brand rights to sell and distribute over-the-counter versions of Fexofenadine HCl 180 mg and 60 mg tabs, plus Fexofenadine HCl 60 mg and Pseudoephedrine 120 mg tabs, the generic versions of Sanofi-Aventis' Allegra and Allegra D-12 products.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA) currently has prescription approval for these products, and Teva and Sanofi-Aventis have settled their litigation.

Allegra 180 mg, 60 mg, and Allegra D-12 are indicated for the relief of symptoms associated with seasonal allergies. Sanofi-Aventis has applied to the FDA for the Rx-to-OTC switch of these drugs. Prior to generic competition entering the Fexofenadine Rx market in 2005, Allegra 180 mg and 60 mg had combined annual sales of approximately $1.5 billion, and in 2009, Allegra D-12 had annual sales of $600 million according to data provided by Wolters-Kluwer.

Said Perrigo chairman and CEO Joseph C. Papa: "This is another example of Perrigo's strategic focus on making quality healthcare more affordable to American consumers by introducing new prescription-to-over-the-counter switch products."

Perrigo develops, manufactures and distributes OTC and generic prescription pharmaceuticals, nutritional products, infant formula, active pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer products. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. The company's primary markets and locations of manufacturing and logistics operations are the United States, Australia, Israel, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

More at www.perrigo.com.

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