British pharmaceutical delivery specialist Cortecs Ltd. islaunching a sustained-release, non-steroidal anti-inflammatorydrug (NSAID), with Warner Lambert subsidiary Parke Davis asan exclusive distributor in Great Britain.

The product, Diclomax, will compete with Ciba Geigy'sdicolfenac products, such as Voltaren, which is nearing the endof its patent protection in Europe, according to the London-based pharmaceutical industry research report companyDatamonitor.

Voltaren already has almost 32 percent of the European(NSAID) market, with 1991 sales of $600 million, according toDatamonitor.

Cortecs expects to compete on price, Geoffrey Hill, managingdirector, told BioWorld. The company's pharmaceuticalsubsidiary, Thames Laboratories, was granted a product licensefor the sustained-release compound late last year.

The product has been developed and manufactured by EurandInternational of Italy using its proprietary Diffucap controlledrelease technology. The drug is a prostaglandin inhibitor usedin arthritis and rheumatism.

Cortecs plans to finance its development of oral formulations ofproteins and peptides with revenues from its increasingpharmaceutical activities, Hill said.

"We have selected this opportunity carefully," he added, "andput together a combination of an excellent delivery systemwith the marketing strength of Parke-Davis in a segment of theU.K. NSAID market that has limited competition and currentsales in excess of 30 million pounds per annum. We believethat this combination will establish a significant brand, whichshould further strengthen Cortecs' pharma companies'contribution to development costs within the group."

-- Nancy Garcia Associate Editor

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