Cosmo Pharmaceuticals earlier today announced that its New Drug Application for Rifamycin has been submitted to the FDA seeking market authorization for the treatment of traveler's diarrhea under an expedited review process in the U.S. Rifamycin, if approved, would compete with Valeant Pharmaceuticals' largest product, Xifaxan, which is indicated to treat both traveler's diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea and generated $979M of sales in 2017, Wells Fargo analyst David Maris tells investors in a research note. He expects FDA approval of Rifamycin for traveler's diarrhea in the second half of 2018 and launch in early 2019. Maris continues to believe the market has not considered Cosmo's Rifamycin program as potential competition to Xifaxan. The analyst keeps an Underperform rating on Valeant shares. The stock in afternoon trading is down 21c to $15.98.