manufactured, marketed, and sold in the united states as the hydrochloride salt (atomoxetine hcl) under the brand name strattera by eli lilly and company, the original patent-filing company and current u.s. patent owner. atomoxetine was initially intended to be developed as an antidepressant, but it was found to be insufficiently efficacious for treating depression. it was, however, found to be effective for adhd and was approved by the fda in 2002, for the treatment of adhd. its patent expired in may 2017. on 12 august 2010, lilly lost a lawsuit that challenged its patent on strattera, increasing the likelihood of an earlier entry of a generic into the us market. on 1 september 2010, sun pharmaceuticals announced it would begin manufacturing a generic in the united states. in a 29 july 2011 conference call, however, sun pharmaceutical's chairman stated "lilly won that litigation on appeal so i think 's deferred." in 2017 the fda approved the generic production of atomoxetine by four pharmaceutical companies. society and culture the drug was originally known as tomoxetine. it was renamed to avoid medication errors, as the name may be confused with tamoxifen. brand names in india, atomoxetine is sold under brand names including axetra, axepta, attera, tomoxetin, and attentin. in australia, canada, italy, portugal, romania, spain, switzerland and the us, atomoxetine is sold under the brand name strattera. in the czech republic it is sold under brand names including mylan. in iran, atomoxetine is sold under brand names including stramox. in 2017, a generic version was approved in the united states. research there has been some suggestion that atomoxetine might be a helpful adjunct in people with major depression, particularly in cases with concomitant adhd. atomoxetine may be used in those with adhd and bipolar disorder although such use has not been well studied. some benefit has also been seen in people with adhd and autism. as with other norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors it appears to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, although attention has focused mainly on specific patient groups such as those with concurrent adhd or methamphetamine dependence.