Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Generic Version of Blood-Thinner Plavix Gets FDA Approval

Clopidogrel - known in branded form as Plavix - is the blood-thinning drug taken by millions to avoid heart attacks and strokes and it will soon be on pharmacy shelves as a generic drug. Plavix was made through a partnership of Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb and had U.S. sales of approximately $6.7 billion for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, according to IMS Health. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval Thursday to the generic version produced by Pittsburgh-based Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Mylan said it will begin shipping tablets immediately.