background info......
Wednesday May 10, 8:33 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Combination Therapy For Hepatitis C Launched In
Spain
COSTA MESA, Calif., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: ICN - news), a research-based, global
pharmaceutical company said today that its licensing partner Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP - news) has
commenced sales in Spain of REBETOL© (ribavirin) Capsules. REBETOL© is approved for use in combination with
Schering-Plough's interferon alfa-2b injection for the treatment of chronically infected hepatitis C patients.
Sales in Spain of REBETOL© follow its launch in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom in 1999.
As many as five million people in Western Europe, and about one percent of the population in Spain, are chronically infected
with the hepatitis C virus, according to the World Health Organization (Dec. 1999). The infection is the leading cause of liver
disease in Western Europe and the most common reason for liver transplant.
Schering-Plough has exclusive worldwide rights to market oral ribavirin for hepatitis C under a license from ICN. Ribavirin,
discovered and developed by ICN, is a synthetic nucleoside analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Ribavirin is currently
marketed by ICN as VIRAZOLE© for the treatment of RSV and in a variety of other dosage forms for at least one of 10
indications in 44 other countries.
In the United States, Schering-Plough markets REBETRON(TM) Combination Therapy containing REBETOL© (ribavirin,
USP) Capsules and INTRON© A (interferon alfa-2b, recombinant) Injection for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. It also
markets the combination therapy in Canada and Argentina. Some four million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
ICN manufactures, markets and distributes a broad range of prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals throughout the
world under the ICN brand name. Additional information is also available on the corporate website at
icnpharm.com.
THE ``SAFE HARBOR'' STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to,
regulatory approval processes, the estimates of prevalence of hepatitis C, projections of future sales, and other risks detailed
from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Contact: Investors - Mariann Ohanesian, 714-545-0100, ext. 3230, or Media - Peter Murphy, 714-545-0100, ext. 3213,
both of ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
SOURCE: ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
