"GREAT STRIDES" FOR SCHERING-PLOUGH

US drugmaker Schering-Plough "has made great strides in advancing up the ladder of corporate performance," according to chairman and chief executive Robert Luciano. "We have shaped it into an ever more profitable, focused, dynamic organization and, at the same time, have increased its value to shareholders significantly," he told shareholders at the annual general meeting.

Today, Schering-Plough is a financially solid company, and 1991 was another successful year, he said, citing significant developments such as: - the launch of the vaginal antifungal Gyne-Lotrimin (clotrimazole) as the first-ever over-the-counter medicine in this category; - US approval of Intron A (interferon alfa) as a treatment for chronic hepatitis non-A, non-B/C, and in several countries for both chronic hepatitis B and C; - maintaining the number 1 market position of its Proventil Inhaler (salbutamol) for asthma, as the US Food and Drug Administration begins to develop guidelines for potential generic competitors; - filing of US applications for Imdur (isosorbate mononitrate), an oral once-daily nitrate, and for Cedax, a third-generation cephalosporin; and - the exec-ution of an innovative stock-repurchase deal, called LYNX, with Merrill Lynch.

Research has been the cornerstone of Schering-Plough's strategy for growth, said Mr Luciano, with more than $2.5 billion invested in R&D since 1982.