Vernalis Group plc (VER) - Vernalis announces first European launch of frovatriptan
20 November 2002
Allegro® launched in Germany by the Menarini Group
London, November 20, 2002 - Vernalis Group plc ('Vernalis' LSE: VER) today announced that frovatriptan, its anti-migraine treatment, has been launched in Germany by Berlin-Chemie, an affiliate of the Menarini Group. The product will be marketed under the trademark Allegro®. Frovatriptan is approved in 15 European countries and is already marketed in the United States.
“The launch of frovatriptan in Germany, Europe's largest pharmaceutical market, represents another significant advance for our Company,” said Robert Mansfield, Chief Executive Officer of Vernalis. “We are working closely with the Menarini Group to achieve success for the product throughout Europe.”
Controlled studies at the approved dose of 2.5 mg showed that frovatriptan has unique characteristics and benefits in the acute treatment of migraine. These studies demonstrated that frovatriptan has a prolonged presence in the bloodstream and that few migraine patients experienced a recurrence of headache within a 24-hour period of taking frovatriptan. Trials in over 4,500 patients showed that the drug was well tolerated and a single 2.5 mg tablet of frovatriptan was effective for the treatment of migraine attacks.
The World Health Organisation lists migraine as one of the top five debilitating diseases and in Western Europe an estimated 30 million women and 10 million men suffer from migraine headaches. Worldwide sales of prescription medicines to treat migraine grew to an estimated $2 billion in 2000 and are expected to continue to increase over the next five years.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Vernalis' projected revenues, market opportunities, financial condition, strategy and prospects. Statements that are not historical facts are based on Vernalis' current expectations, beliefs, estimates and assumptions. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause Vernalis' actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors which may affect Vernalis' future operating results include the following: Vernalis may not receive royalty revenues, milestone payments or other revenues when expected or at all, frovatriptan and Vernalis' product candidates may not receive regulatory or marketing approval or gain market acceptance in key markets to the extent expected, when anticipated or at all, Vernalis may be unable to enter into additional licensing, partnering or collaboration agreements when expected or at all, Vernalis may be unable to conduct its clinical trials as quickly as it has predicted, Vernalis' product candidates may not demonstrate therapeutic efficacy, Vernalis may require additional equity capital or debt financing earlier than projected and may be unable to obtain sufficient capital when needed, and other important factors described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Vernalis' Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2001 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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