The world's leading provider of injectable drugs and infusion technologies,  Hospira, Inc., has launched imipenem-cilastatin for injection, IV in US.

The medication, a carbapenem that belongs to the beta-lactam class of antibiotics, is a generic version of Merck's Primaxin, which had 2010 US sales of approximately $140 million.

Hospira's imipenem-cilastatin will be available in 250 mg and 500 mg flip-top vials.

"Hospira's imipenem-cilastatin is our second carbapenem on the US market, demonstrating Hospira's dedication to providing generic alternatives in this important category of antibiotics," said Joshua Gordon, vice president/general manager, specialty pharmaceuticals, Hospira. "Hospira is committed to continuing to reduce the cost of healthcare by providing savings with first-to-market generic injectables."

Last year, Hospira launched meropenem, the first generic carbapenem on the US market. Carbapenem antibiotics have a US market value of approximately $600 million, based on IMS Health data. Hospira already sells imipenem-cilastatin in Europe, Japan and several other countries.

Hospira's specialty injectable pharmaceuticals (SIP) offering includes approximately 200 generic injectable drugs in many dosages and formulations. In addition, many of its products are available in popular differentiated presentations, several of which are proprietary, such as ADD-Vantage drug delivery system and iSecure prefilled syringes. Therapeutic areas include analgesia, anaesthesia, anti-infectives, cardiovascular, oncology, emergency and other areas. Hospira also has robust pipelines of both generic and biosimilar drugs.