ALZA Corporation and U.S. Bioscience Inc. Announce Marketing and Distribution Agreement for Ethyol

ALZA Corporation, a leading drug delivery systems company, and U.S. Bioscience Inc., a pharmaceutical company specializing in cancer and AIDS treatments, have signed a marketing and distribution agreement for Ethyol, a selective cytoprotective agent. The agreement grants ALZA exclusive rights to market Ethyol in the United States for five years, with U.S. Bioscience's sales force co-promoting the product. Ethyol was cleared for marketing in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration on December 8, 1995, and is the first agent to reduce kidney toxicities associated with cisplatin while not compromising chemotherapy activity on tumor cells.

Key Takeaways:

• ALZA Corporation has exclusive rights to market Ethyol in the United States for five years, with an option to extend for one year.
• U.S. Bioscience's sales force will co-promote the product with ALZA.
• Ethyol has been cleared for marketing in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration on December 8, 1995.
• The product helps protect healthy cells from cisplatin's damaging effects when used before a patient undergoes cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
• Ethyol is currently being studied in the treatment of a number of tumors requiring different chemotherapeutic combinations.
• ALZA expects to launch the product in early 1996.
• Marketing rights to Ethyol will revert to U.S. Bioscience after the five-year period.

Statistics:

• 5 years: the duration of ALZA's exclusive marketing rights to Ethyol in the United States.
• 1 year: the option period for ALZA to extend marketing rights to Ethyol in the United States.
• 8 December 1995: the date Etherol was cleared for marketing in the United States.
• Early 1996: the expected launch period for Ethyol by ALZA.

Sources:

• ALZA Corporation and U.S. Bioscience Inc. (PRNewswire, December 13, 1995)
• Food and Drug Administration