Wockhardt USA Inc., Wockhardt's US subsidiary, launched Ondansetron injection in the United States on Tuesday, the first working day after the patent for the product expired on December 24. Ondansetron is the generic version of Glaxo SmithKline's Zofran injection and is used in controlling nausea and vomiting following cancer chemotherapy.  

"This is Wockhardt's eighth product approval from US FDA in 2006 and the third injection product in the US market," said Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala. "We now market 15 products in the US, 10 of them launched during 2006."  

Ondansetron is the largest selling anti-emetic product in the world. Sales of Zofran injection in the United States during the 12 months ending September 30, 2006, were $628 million.  

Ondansetron injection is manufactured at the US FDA certified sterile formulation plant at Waluj in Aurangabad, India. Wockhardt has two other sterile formulation plants approved by US FDA in India and the UK. 

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