Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's top drugmaker by sales, said it expected to get US approvals for a paediatric dosage of its generic version of Augmentin, GlaxoSmithKline's blockbuster antibiotic, within a month.

The New Delhi-based firm launched its tablet dosages of the drug in the United States in January, becoming the fourth generic supplier after Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Slovenia's Lek.

"We have applied and expect approvals for the suspension product (dry syrup) for paediatric use in a month," Vinay Kaul, Ranbaxy's chief financial officer, told Reuters on Wednesday. "Once that comes, it should enhance our reach in the market."

Ranbaxy, like many other Indian drugmakers, is aggressively targeting the United States market for selling its copies of branded drugs whose patents have expired.

Its profit in 2002 rose 139 per cent, helped by a fantastic performance by its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Ceftin antibiotic, launched a year ago. Its product is still the only Ceftin generic in the United States.

But Ranbaxy's shares closed down 3.74 per cent at Rs 606.10 due to overall weak sentiment and a report in The Economic Times daily that the company's Augmentin generic had not managed to corner the market share analysts had expected.

"We had estimated Augmentin sales in 2003 to be at $30-50 million and we are sticking to that," Kaul said.

He also said Ranbaxy had launched its generic version of Roche Holding AG's anti-acne drug Accutane in the United States in late February.