Mumbai, March 15 (IANS) Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories Friday said it will launch anti-diabetic drug Actos in the US by 2012.

Ranbaxy, majority owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, said it has settled litigation with the country's Takeda Pharmaceutical over a generic equivalent version of the medicine and received a non-exclusive royalty free licence for its US patents covering Actos.

'The agreement will allow Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals to bring to patients with diabetes a generic alternative in this therapeutic area,' vice president for sales and distribution Jim Meehan said in a regulatory filing.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy, is based in Florida and engaged in the sale and distribution of generic and branded prescription products in the US. According to IMS Health, Actos had a $3.4 billion market in 2009.