Fomepizole (orphan medical).
Orphan Medical has developed fomepizole as a potential treatment for both ethylene glycol and methanol poisoning. The drug was launched as Antizol in January 1998 for the treatment of ethylene glycol poisoning [273949] after US marketing approval was grantedin December 1997 [271563]. It has also received US approval for methanol poisoning [393217] and UK approval for ethylene glycol poisoning [329495]. In 1999, Orphan Medical's partner, Cambridge Laboratories, intended to pursue European approval under the mutual recognition procedure [329495]. However, by September 2000, Cambridge Laboratories had discontinued their involvement with fomepizole and IDIS World Medicines had licensed the rights to distribute the drug in the UK [412142]. In February 2000, the Canadian Therapeutic Products Programme (TPP) granted fomepizole Priority Review, provided that an NDA was submitted by March 14, 2000 [354665]. In August 2000, the TPP accepted this NDA and set a target date for approval in the fourth quarter of 2000 [379474]. The TPP granted fomepizole a Notice of Compliance permitting the sale of fomepizole in Canada in December 2000. The company's marketing partner in Canada, Paladin Labs had launched fomepizole by January 2001 [396953]. In June 2000, Tucker Anthony Cleary Gull stated that the Orphan Drug status which Orphan Medical had obtained for fomepizole would provide marketing exclusivity through December 2004. The analysts also stated that fomepizole had accounted for 40% of Orphan Medical's revenue in financial year 1999, although +/- 30% of sales were estimated to be due to stockpiling [409606].
Hantson
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Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc, Department of Intensive Care, Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Brussels, Belgium. hantson@rean.ucl.ac.be