Business Services Industry
Biovail Acquires Canadian Rights to Wellbutrin SR & Zyban From GlaxoSmithKline
Business Wire, Dec 27, 2002
Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 27, 2002
(NYSE:BVF)(TSX:BVF)
Biovail and GSK Canada Enter into Marketing Agreement: Wellbutrin(R) XL Will Be Registered in Canada and Marketed by Biovail
or Licensee Upon Approval
Biovail Corporation (NYSE:BVF)(TSX:BVF) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Glaxo Group Limited of England (Glaxo) to acquire the Canadian rights to Wellbutrin(R) SR and Zyban(R). Through this agreement and upon marketing approval from Canadian authorities, Biovail has the option to market Wellbutrin(R) XL, a once-daily bupropion product for the treatment of depression. Wellbutrin(R) SR is usually prescribed twice daily for the treatment of depression and Zyban(R) is administered for the treatment of nicotine addiction as an aid to smoking cessation. Both products are formulations of bupropion hydrochloride.
Related Results
"This provides Biovail with the option to market our own proprietary once-daily bupropion formulation in Canada under the well-respected trade mark for Wellbutrin(R)," commented Eugene Melnyk, Chairman and CEO of Biovail. "These agreements further reconfirm our continued commitment to expanding our portfolio of branded pharmaceutical products targeting large market opportunities in Canada."
Earlier this year, GlaxoSmithKline USA filed Biovail's once-daily bupropion formulation, Wellbutrin(R) XL, with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Today's agreement allows Biovail access to information and data from past and future clinical studies conducted by GSK in the U.S. This data and information will be used to support the registration of once-daily Wellbutrin(R) XL in Canada and, upon the product's approval from Canada's Therapeutics and Products Directorate regulatory agency, will be used to support the sale of Wellbutrin(R) in Canada.
For the time being, GSK Canada shall continue to market, distribute and promote Wellbutrin(R) SR and Zyban(R) in Canada.
The total antidepressant market in Canada was valued at over US$450 million for the 12 months ended October 2002 and is growing at a rate of approximately 17% annually. Approximately 18 million prescriptions were written for antidepressants in this same time period reflecting growth of 12% over the previous 12 months. The combined annual sales for Wellbutrin(R) SR and Zyban(R) in Canada are expected to reach over US$30 million in 2002 and are expected to grow significantly over the next five years. U.S. sales for Wellbutrin(R) SR in 2002 surpassed US$1.4 billion dollars for the 12 months ended October 2002.
Biovail Corporation is an international full-service pharmaceutical company, engaged in the formulation, clinical testing, registration, manufacture, sale and promotion of pharmaceutical products utilizing advanced drug delivery technologies.
(R) ZYBAN (bupropion hydrochloride) and (R) WELLBUTRIN (bupropion hydrochloride) are registered trademarks of the GlaxoSmithKline Group of Companies, used under license by Biovail Laboratories Incorporated.
For further information, please contact Ken Howling at 905-286-3000 or send inquiries to ir@biovail.com.
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting FDA approvals, acceptance and demand for new pharmaceutical products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development and launch, reliance on key strategic alliances, availability of raw materials, the regulatory environment, fluctuations in operating results and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- 5 Rules for Immediate Annuities
- Death in the Family: 12 Things to Do Now
- Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money
- 6 Online Networking Mistakes to Avoid
- 401(k) Mistakes to Avoid
- 5 Economic Scenarios to Keep You Up at Night
- The Real ‘Best Places to Retire’
- Best Credit Cards for You
- 12 Tough Questions to Ask Your Parents
- The Real ‘Best Colleges’
- Home Buyer Tax Credit: How to Cash In
- Why You Shouldn't Bash Cash
- 8 Phony 'Bargains' and Better Alternatives
- Danger: 3 Debit Card Scams to Avoid
- 6 Myths About Gas Mileage
- 29 Fees We Hate Most
- Quick and Easy Ways to Boost Returns
- Best Stocks to Buy Now
- Lower Your Taxes: 10 Moves to Make Now
- New Jobs: 8 Lessons from Real-Life Career Switchers
- The New Job Market: Who Wins and Who Loses?
- Health Care Reform's Public Option: Everything You Need to Know
- Volunteer Work When Unemployed: Should You Work for Free?
- Whose Recovery Is This?
- Long-Term-Care Insurance: 4 Biggest Risks to Avoid
Content provided in partnership with
Most Recent Business Articles
- Multiple criteria evaluation and optimization of transportation systems
- Multi-criteria analysis procedure for sustainable mobility evaluation in urban areas
- A two-leveled multi-objective symbiotic evolutionary algorithm for the hub and spoke location problem
- Multi-criteria analysis for evaluating the impacts of intelligent speed adaptation
- The development of Taiwan arterial traffic-adaptive signal control system and its field test: a Taiwan experience
Most Recent Business Publications
Most Popular Business Articles
- 7 tips for effective listening: productive listening does not occur naturally. It requires hard work and practice - Back To Basics - effective listening is a crucial skill for internal auditors
- LIFO vs. FIFO: a return to the basics
- FAS 109: a primer for non-accountants - Financial Accounting Standards Board's "Statement 109: Accounting for Income Taxes"
- Using object-oriented analysis and design over traditional structured analysis and design
- Design a commission plan that drives sales - Sales Commissions


