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TUESDAY, Dec. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of Merck & Co.'s Proscar (finasteride). The drug is used to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the medical term for an enlarged prostate.

More than half of men in their 60s and as many as 90 percent in their 70s and 80s have some symptoms of BPH, the U.S. National Institutes of Health says.

Approval to produce a 5 mg. generic version of finasteride was granted to Mylan Laboratories Inc., the Pittsburgh-based company said Tuesday.

In the year ending Sept. 30, total U.S. sales of finasteride 5 mg. tablets were $553 million, Mylan said.

More information

To learn more about BPH, visit the U.S. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse.