CONPHARM'S 2nd PRODUCT IN PRE-REG

Sweden's Conpharm AB, a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of therapeutic products derived from plants in the Podophyllum family, is now in a position to compile a marketing application dossier for its second ethical pharmaceutical product, Reumacon, president Evert Wallstrom told the company's annual general meeting recently.

Mr Wallstrom, who was formerly an executive with Sweden's Astra, said that Conpharm was concentrating on developing and marketing, through a licensing program, products targeted at venereal diseases and dermatological and rheumatological disorders.

Reumacon is a treatment intended for patients with severe, chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical trials in over 300 patients, including long-term studies, have demonstrated that the product is as effective in these patients as other commonly-used treatments, such as gold salts, immunosuppressants and penicillamine. Reumacon is at present used under special sales permits at 20 clinics in Scandinavia and Switzerland, said Mr Wallstrom, and documentation is now being compiled for eventual registration by the EC.