AstraZeneca's headaches worsened by new generic drug

The scale of the challenge posed to pharmaceutical companies by generic drug manufacturers was underlined yesterday when AstraZeneca announced a 16% drop in third-quarter pre-tax profit, and another of its products faced copycat competition.

A Canadian company, Cobalt Pharmaceuticals, said yesterday it was seeking US approval to sell a generic version of the cholesterol treatment Crestor - one of AstraZeneca's bestselling drugs.

AstraZeneca now has a 45-day window to decide whether to take Cobalt to court. If it does, the US food and drug administration will not be able to approve the generic versions for another 30 months.