Pfizer makes plans to cope with generic competition for antidepressant Zoloft

With the US Food and Drug Administration's approval of generic forms of Pfizer's leading antidepressant Zoloft (sertraline HCl) on June 30, the pharmaceutical giant is now facing competition for its drug, which generated US sales for the firm of over $2.5 billion last year, and around $3.26 billion worldwide. The agency cleared Roxane Laboratories' oral liquid concentrate of sertraline and IVAX Pharmaceutical's tablets of the compound.

The FDA said the economic benefits of its generic approval program are significant because generics can cost a fraction of the price of the brand names drugs and represent about two-thirds of prescription doses sold in the USA.

In anticipation of the situation, Pfizer has announced that its subsidiary, Greenstone, is prepared to introduce a heavily-discounted generic version of Zoloft to compete "if and when others are released," Paul Fitzhenry, a spokesman for the unit told the Associated Press.