Genentech Halts Protropin Program

Genentech, which manufacturers the synthetic growth hormone Protropin, and its distributor Caremark have agreed to stop financing height screening at schools and other promotions associated with the drug.

While both companies have denied any wrongdoing, the announcement came just before the US government was to present its complaints against the two companies at a Congressional hearing.

A Genentech spokesman said that the action was in response to questions that have been raised, but stressed that the company feels its height screenings were a public service that found not only height-deficient children but also many other conditions. Genentech will also ask the US National Institute of Health's Institute of Medicine to study whether such screenings benefit children, and Caremark has ended all financial arrangements with doctors who provide hormone therapy, including research funding.