US approval for ProStrakan drug

Sep 15 2008 By Greig Cameron

Borders company gets FDA approval for Sancuso nausea patch

DRUG development group ProStrakan has received a major boost after it received official approval to sell a special patch which stops chemotherapy patients suffering from nausea and vomiting.

ProStrakan, based in Galashiels, says the drug is being launched into a market worth $1.3bn in the US alone.

It plans to launch it in the US before the end of 2008.

Dr Wilson Totten, ProStrakan's Chief Executive Officer, said the decision was  a very significant breakthrough, both for patients and ProStrakan.  

"The launch will make Sancuso available for the first time to prevent nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients. Significant challenges persist in the prevention of CINV, which jeopardises the health of many chemotherapy patients and can deter them from continuing their cancer treatment.
 
He said the combination of US approval for Sancuso and the recent European Union approval for Abstral, its treatment for cancer pain, were pivotal events  allowing ProStrakan to become profitable in the next two years.

ProStrakan has already established its US head office in Bedminster, New Jersey, and has recruited an experienced management team.
Its US national sales ,anager is in place, together with seven Medical Science Liaison team-members, who have now been trained and will liaise with Oncologists and Oncology Nurses across the US.

Sancuso eradicates the need for repeated daily injections, thus reducing potential infection risk, or having to swallow multiple pills on a repeated daily basis, which is often not possible in cancer patients due to oral mucositis.