Wockhardt Ltd has announced that the company will be launching sertraline tablets in the United States. The company has received approval from the United States Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) for marketing the tablets containing 25mg, 50mg and 100mg sertraline hydrochloride, which is used for treating depression. Sertraline is the generic name for the brand Zoloft, sold in the US by Pfizer.

"With over a dozen new product launches in the last twelve months and the recent acquisition of Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, Wockhard''s US business has been making significant progress" said Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala. "We are continuing to strengthen the US operations by filing several ANDAs, including technologically challenging products".

Wockhardt's Sertraline tablets will be launched in the US market within the next few weeks. According to IMS, the total market for Sertraline tablets in the US is $1.1 billion equivalent to over 1.4 billion tablets. Wockhardt has several products including injectables in the CNS segment.

In the prescription generic pharmaceutical market, the company has been consistently growing market shares for all its products. Wockhardt markets over fifty products in the US.

The Sertraline tablets are manufactured at the US FDA certified formulation plant at Waluj, Maharashtra. The product was developed in-house. Wockhardt is one of the few companies with end-to-end integrated capabilities for its products, starting with manufacture of the oral and sterile API's, the dose forms and marketing through the wholly-owned subsidiary in the US, enabling the company to capture maximum value.

Today, Wockhardt has nearly 2000 people working in Europe and USA, which contributes to 60 per cent of Wockhardt sales. In addition to USA, Wockhardt has a strong presence in the UK, France, Germany and Ireland in Europe. Wockhardt employs 9000 people worldwide belonging to 14 nationalities.