DETROIT, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd., announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have granted final approval for the Company’s Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Tramadol Hydrochloride with Acetaminophen Tablets.
Caraco’s Tramadol Hydrochloride (HCl) with Acetaminophen Tablets is the generic equivalent of Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc. brand product, Ultracet(R), which is indicated for the short-term (five days or less) management of acute pain.
“We are extremely pleased on receiving this approval and plan to launch this product to the market immediately,” said Daniel H. Movens, Chief Executive Officer. “This approval brings our total product portfolio to 19 different products represented by 41 strengths.”
On September 22, 2004, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc. (“Ortho-McNeil”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleging that the Company’s filing of an ANDA seeking approval to market its generic version of Ortho-McNeil’s Ultracet(R) drug product infringed Ortho-McNeil’s patent, which expires on September 6, 2011. Ortho- McNeil sought an order from the Court which, among other things, directed the FDA not to approve Caraco’s ANDA any earlier than the claimed expiration date. The ANDA filed by Caraco contained a Paragraph IV Certification challenging the Ortho-McNeil patent. On October 19, 2005 our motion for summary judgment was granted. Ortho-McNeil has the right to appeal.
Detroit-based Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd., develops, manufactures and distributes generic and private-label prescription pharmaceuticals to the nation’s wholesalers, distributors, drugstore chains and managed care providers.
Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward- looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are contained in the Corporation’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include: information is of a preliminary nature and may be subject to adjustment, not obtaining or delays in obtaining FDA approval for new products, governmental restrictions on the sale of certain products, dependence on key personnel, development by competitors of new or superior products or cheaper products or new technology for the production of products, the entry into the market of new competitors, market and customer acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, availability of raw materials, timing and success of product development and launches, integrity and reliability of the Corporation’s data, lack of success of attaining full compliance with regard to regulatory and cGMP compliance, experiencing difficulty in managing our recent rapid growth and anticipated future growth, dependence on limited customer base, occasional credits to certain customers reflecting price reductions on products previously sold to them and still available as shelf- stock, possibility of an incorrect estimate of charge-backs and the impact of such an incorrect estimate on net sales, gross profit and net income, dependence on few products generating majority of sales, product liability claims for which the Company may be inadequately insured, subjectivity in judgment of management in applying certain significant accounting policies derived based on historical experience, terms of contracts, our observations of trends of industry, information received from our customers and other sources, to estimate revenues, accounts receivable allowances including charge-backs, rebates, income taxes, values of assets and inventories, litigation involving claims of patent infringement, litigation involving claims for royalties relating to a prior contract for one product and other risks identified in this report and identified from time to time in our reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent our judgment as of the date of this report. We disclaim, however, any intent or obligation to update our forward-looking statements.
Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd.
CONTACT: Daniel Movens or Jitendra Doshi of Caraco Pharmaceutical,+1-313-871-8400; or Mike Marcotte of Marcotte Financial Relations,+1-248-656-3873, for Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd.