Vestar Inc.'s liposomal drug AmBisome has been approved formarketing in Greece, the San Dimas, Calif., company announcedTuesday.

This makes the eighth country to approve the drug, which is aliposomal formulation of amphotericin B, for treating systemicfungal infections. The Netherlands approved the drug just lastweek; it's also been approved for marketing in Ireland, Mexico,the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and Portugal.

Still to come are approvals from some of the larger countries"that will make a difference in market size," such as Italy,Spain and France, according to Michael Hart, Vestar's chieffinancial officer.

In the U.S., things are off to a slower start. The first step in theclinical evaluation of AmBisome came in February, whenVestar's (NASDAQ:VSTR) licensee, Fujisawa USA Inc., filed aninvestigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA tostart clinical trials.

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