Canada contracts for generic Cipro

TORONTO, Canada (CNN) -- The Canadian drug-maker Apotex confirmed Friday that it has contracted with the Canadian government to produce 900,000 pills of generic ciprofloxacin for government use.

Ciprofloxacin, a key antibiotic used to combat anthrax infection, is produced under the name Cipro by Bayer, the sole patent holder for the drug in the United States and Canada.

Apotex, which has had an application before the Canadian government to produce generic Cipro for several years, said it would deliver the tablets within two weeks at a charge of $1.50 Canadian (96 cents US) per tablet. Bayer charges the U.S. government $1.87 per pill.

Canadian law allows for generic production of patented drugs "in times of an emergency -- and this is an emergency," said Apotex spokesman Elie Betito.

Bayer 'disappointed'

Phil Blake, Bayer's executive vice president, said the government never asked the company to supply it with Cipro. The company has "millions of tablets" ready to be distributed in Canada from its Toronto facility, he said. Bayer has donated 200,000 Cipro tablets to the Health Ministry to add to its reserve, said Blake.

"I was surprised and disappointed to learn ... that Health Canada had placed an order with a nonapproved third party for ciprofloxacin without giving us the opportunity to supply that quantity of product," Blake said.

Apotex, Canada's largest drug company, reached an agreement with the Canadian government Monday, Betito said.

"Our product is basically approved. It's only been hanging around because we've been tied up in patent litigation for a couple of years," Betito said.

The Bush administration has so far resisted calls that it push for emergency generic production of ciprofloxacin, instead arguing that Bayer can meet demand. Bayer has tripled production to produce 200 million tablets over the next three months.

U.S. officials have not said how much Cipro they hope to buy, but some have indicated that the government would like to add 100 million tablets to its stockpile.