Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., which invested in TheraTech Inc. before the company wentpublic in May 1992, sold its remaining 683,000 shares in the Salt Lake City company(NASDAQ:THRT) last week. The transaction completed Solvay's planned disposition of all itsshares in TheraTech.

“Solvay made its initial investment in TheraTech in 1988 and has seen itappreciate significantly,“ said Dinesh Patel, TheraTech's president and chiefexecutive officer. “Solvay's commitment to our product development activities remainsstrong,“ he added.

The two companies have a research collaboration in the field of female hormonereplacement therapy. The companies amended the terms of that agreement in August.TheraTech, which develops drug delivery methods, has reacquired the rights to itsestradiol and combination estradiol/progestin transdermal delivery products. Solvay, onthe other hand, which is a member of the human health division of the Belgian companySolvay S.A., now gets the U.S. rights for two new female hormone replacement therapyproducts currently the subject of an investigational new drug (IND) application.