SLXP - Anyone ever hear of this one?
Monday December 18, 8:51 am Eastern Time
Press Release
Salix Pharmaceuticals Announces Initial Shipment of Colazal
RALEIGH, N.C.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 18, 2000--Salix(TM) Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (Nasdaq:SLXP - news) today announced that initial stocking orders of COLAZAL(TM) (balsalazide disodium) totaling approximately $5.5 million have been shipped to wholesalers to ensure availability for patient use at the time the product is launched in January 2001.
``We are extremely pleased with the high level of interest shown to date in COLAZAL by gastroenterologists, wholesalers and pharmacies,'' stated Carolyn Logan, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Salix. ``Our 30-person gastroenterology specialty sales force is in place and is scheduled to begin meeting in early January with pharmacies and physicians to introduce COLAZAL as a first-line therapy for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. Due to the efforts of our manufacturing and logistics partners COLAZAL is now available for patients.''
COLAZAL is the first new chemical entity approved in ten years and the first new therapy approved in seven years by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis, a chronic and debilitating inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. COLAZAL is approved for a course of therapy of up to 12 weeks. During the course of clinical investigations, the most commonly reported side effects were headache and abdominal pain, reported in 8% and 6% respectively, of the clinical patient population. Withdrawal from therapy due to adverse events was comparable among patients on COLAZAL and placebo.
Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by inflammation of the lining of the colon. Symptoms of active ulcerative colitis include rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, increased stool frequency, loss of appetite, fever and weight loss. There is no known cure for ulcerative colitis except for removal of the colon. (For additional information about ulcerative colitis, contact the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America at 800/343-3637 or visit its web site at ccfa.org .)
Salix estimates that there are up to 500,000 patients with ulcerative colitis in the United States. In 1999, U.S. sales of prescription products indicated to treat ulcerative colitis totaled approximately $350 million. This market in terms of prescription dollar sales has been growing at an annual compound rate exceeding 25% for the last 10 years.
Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, develops and markets prescription pharmaceutical products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Salix is executing a strategy to in-license proprietary therapeutic drugs which have an existing database of positive, late-stage clinical data; complete the development and regulatory submission of these products; and market them by means of the Company's specialty sales force. Salix's lead product is COLAZAL, an anti-inflammatory drug, approved for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. Salix's follow-on product candidate is rifaximin, a broad-spectrum, gastrointestinal-targeted antibiotic, currently in Phase III development for the potential treatment of bacterial infections of the lower gastrointestinal tract. Salix trades on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market under the ticker symbol ``SLXP.'' |
