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A more convenient six-month formulation of a drug to treat prostate cancer has successfully completed its European decentralised registration procedure and will soon be rolled out for use on patients.
Decapeptyl is already available in one and three-month formulations, but will soon be launched in the new six-month form, triptorelin embonate 22.5 mg, consisting of two consecutive injections.
The luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic, hormone-dependent prostate cancer will be first launched in Germany, The Netherlands and Spain before reaching France, Austria, Finland, Norway, Belgium and Denmark.
Swiss biopharmaceutical group Debiopharm has licensed the European marketing rights for the product to speciality pharmaceutical group Ipsen.
“As expected, we are proud to offer patients suffering from prostate cancer a new six-month formulation of Decapeptyl with an improved convenience and a consistent and similar efficacy to the already established one and three-month formulations,” said Jean-Luc Belingard, Ipsen’s chairman and chief executive.
“The completion of this procedure represents a major step forward in the development of our uro-oncology franchise,” he added.
Copyright Press Association 2009
