Lilly is also counting on new drugs now coming from its labs. Nearest to government approval are Xigris, a treatment for sepsis, and Forteo, for osteoporosis.
As more drug patents expire, some big drug companies have become aggressive in trying to protect their products from generic competitors, many of which have recently become stronger after mergers and more able to take on the big brand-name giants.
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline broke any laws as they tried to protect their products by filing numerous patents on a single drug. Both of those companies have said they did nothing illegal.
Government lawyers have also accused other brand-name companies of colluding with generic companies by paying them not to sell low-cost versions of a drug when its patent expires. Barr is one of those companies that the government has questioned. The questions concern Barr's deal with Zeneca, a company now known as AstraZeneca, on a breast cancer drug called tamoxifen. While Barr sells a generic version of tamoxifen, the medicine is still made by AstraZeneca and sells for only a slight discount from the brand-name drug.
Barr said it thinks that the Justice Department will determine that the deal is appropriate and has helped consumers.
Downey said that Barr planned to capture 80 percent of the Prozac market in the first six months. The company has been making fluoxetine since March, he said, and plans to ship as many as 100 million capsules on Thursday, including some by overnight mail.
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