Expanded Use Sought For Centocor's ReoPro

Centocor has filed two supplemental New Drug Applications for ReoPro(abciximab), its platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antibody, in the USA.

ReoPro is already registered in the USA and Europe for the reduction of ischemic complications in high-risk angioplasty patients. Centocor has submitted data from the EPILOG and CAPTURE trials, as well as follow-up data from the EPIC trial, which support the product's use in all patients undergoing angioplasty, and for use in stabilizing patients with unstable angina, not responding to conventional therapy, who are eligible for angioplasty.

The new indications would significantly expand the market for ReoPro, which is licensed to Eli Lilly. In 1996, Centocor's sales of ReoPro to Lilly totaled $88.7 million, and pushed Centocor into profitability for the first time in the fourth quarter of the year.