Amid a plunge in its stock price, Mylan Inc. yesterday sought to soothe nervous investors, saying the company was fundamentally strong and ready to face "this difficult credit environment."

"We believe that the recent disproportionate decline in Mylan's stock price is unrelated to the company's business operations or fundamentals," Chief Financial Officer Edward J. Borkowski said in a statement. "Rather, we believe the decline has been driven by the need for certain institutions to meet capital requirements and by unwarranted concern regarding our capital structure."

Analysts have expressed worries that the highly leveraged, Cecil-based generic-drug maker might have to take on more debt.

Mylan's stock has sunk about 30 percent this month and lost nearly half of its value since the beginning of the year.

Shares edged higher in early trading yesterday, peaking above $8 shortly after Mylan issued its statement. But the stock turned lower to close at $7.61, down 12 cents from the previous day. Volume was heavy at 14.4 million shares vs. the six-month average of 7.1 million.

Mylan said it had completed $500 million of interest rate swaps to fix the interest rate of a portion of its term loan borrowings to take advantage of the recent decline in medium term dollar interest rates. The swaps set the interest cost on this debt through 2010 at 6.03 percent.

"Mylan could hardly be in a stronger position to deal with the current economic climate," Chief Executive Officer Robert Coury said. The company has "no requirement to access the credit markets," he said.

Mylan took on massive debt when it paid $6.8 billion for Merck Generics a year ago.