France's Ethypharm announces listing

Ethypharm of France, the world's fourth largest drug delivery company,has announced plans to list its shares on the Premier Marche of Euronext Paris, which it says will support expansion of the company's business activities, especially in North America, and its longer-term plan "to become a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceutical company."

Founded in 1977, Ethypharm posted revenues of 105 million euros ($88.8 million) in 2000, and its major products are sustained-release formulations of the antihypertensive diltiazem and the painkiller morphine. The firm sells 50 products in more than 70 countries and its customers include Aventis, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi-Synthelabo.