Oclassen Pharmaceuticals today said it has signed a co-promotion deal for its flagship product, Condylox, withBurroughs Wellcome Co.

Condylox, which received Food and Drug Administrationmarketing approval last December for treatment of externalgenital warts, is the first product approved for patient-appliedtreatment of the disease.

Condylox sells for $50 to $60 a vial, which provides four weeksof therapy. The company said patients pay more than 1.4million visits to their doctors each year for treatment of thesexually transmitted disease, compared to some 450,000 visitsfor treatment of genital herpes.

Glen Oclassen, founder and chairman of the San Rafael, Calif.-based company, said the more than 600 Burroughs salesrepresentatives in the United States will allow Oclassen topenetrate the market much more quickly than it could on itsown. Burroughs already has access to the providers ofOclassen's product through its own Zovirax acyclovir fortreatment of genital herpes and shingles.

Oclassen also is closing a fourth round of venture financing,expected to raise about $10 million. Glen Oclassen said thefunding, coupled with revenues from Condylox and a newantibiotic product, Monodox, later this year, should take the 5-year-old company to a positive cash-flow position by mid-1992.

In addition, clinical data should start coming in over the nextthree to four months from the trial of Oclassen's anti-viralagent FIAU in hepatitis B patients. If the data are promising,the company will look for the right corporate partner for thatproduct.

-- Cynthia Robbins-Roth, Ph.D. BioVenture View

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