Bio-Technology General Corp. today said it has receivedEuropean Community approval for marketing of recombinanthuman growth hormone.

SmithKline Beecham, BTGC's European licensee, receivedapproval from the Committee for Proprietary MedicinalProducts to market hGH for short-stature indications.SmithKline will sell hGH under the brand name Eskatrope. Salesand pricing must now be approved by individual EC countries.

The European market for short-stature drugs is $230 millionand is growing by about 20 percent annually, said BTGC. TheNew York company expects sales to begin by the end of theyear. BTGC already sells hGH in Israel and South Korea.

BTGC today also said it had signed a previously announcedagreement with DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. to reacquireU.S. rights to hGH. As payment, BTGC issued 275,000 shares ofcommon stock to DuPont-Merck and will pay royalties of up to$5 million on future hGH product sales. The U.S. market for hGHfor short stature is $200 million.

BTGC stock (NASDAQ:BTGC) closed Monday at $4.31, down 19cents.

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