Cipla Ltd has launched an anti-asthma inhaler in Germany and Sweden that is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Advair, a move that will further dent sales of the British firm's top-selling product.
Cipla's drug will be marketed under the name Serrofloin in Germany and Salmeterol/Fluticasone Cipla in Sweden, the company said in a statement on Monday.
In December, Denmark became the first European country to approve for sale a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's $8 billion-a-year Advair, and analysts have been expecting more such approvals.
Making copies of inhaled drugs such as Advair is a challenge because of the complexity of making a device that effectively delivers the medicine directly into the lungs.