Highlights Of SmithKline's R&D Portfolio

George Poste, chairman of research and development at SmithKline Beecham, believes the company has a fertile mid-stage pipeline which will allow it to show continued growth through the rest of the 1990s and beyond.

At the company's recent annual update in London, UK, Dr Poste noted that for the 1994-1996 period, SB will be filing registration dossiers for 10 New Chemical Entities, five new vaccines, 11 line extensions/new indications, nine combination vaccines and one prescription-only to over-the-counter conversion. And Jan Leschley, chief executive of SB, said that in the framework of consolidation the company was determined not to cut any spending on R&D. One of the keys to success in the pharmaceutical industry now is an inovative pipeline, he said.

In the near-term, Phase III pipeline SB has seven New Chemical Entities and four novel vaccines, namely: eprosartan for hypertension and congestive heart failure; carvedilol for CHF, levochromakalim for hypertension (Japan); pranlukast for asthma; epristeride for benign prostatic hyperplasia; the anticancer agent Hycamtin (topotecin); ropiniriole for Parkinson's disease; acellular diptheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTPa) vaccine and combinations; therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine; and a therapeutic Herpes simplex vaccine.