Apotex Inc. the reported largest Canadian owned pharmaceutical company, launched Apo-Rosuvastatin, a generic version of Crestor® produced by AstraZeneca. According to a news release from the company, the Apotex product is 100% Canadian made by employees and facilities dedicated to ensuring that Canada remains a global strength in generic product introduction. The company reports that annual Crestor® brand sales in Canada are over $700 million and generic Rosuvastatin represents the second largest generic product launch in this market to date. The launch of Apo-Rosuvastatin comes years before the last Crestor® patents are set to expire, in August 2020. To the Canadian healthcare system, the availability a generic rosuvastatin up to 8 years early could represent up to $3.4 billion in accumulative savings.

The release notes that Apotex has over 6,000 employees in 21 facilities, producing 300 pharmaceuticals that are exported to 115 countries. The Canadian pharmaceutical Research and Development company reports planned expenditures of $2 billion over the next ten years.