Hoechst Gives Up Rights To Abortion Drug

- Hoechst AG is to cease production of its abortion drug RU-486(mifepristone), and will give all non-US patents and stock free of charge to a new company. The new company, provisionally called Exelgyn, will be headed by Edouard Sakiz, one of the developers of RU-486 and a former chairman of Roussel-Uclaf, which Hoechst acquired. This latest development follows a call for the boycott of Hoechst's antiallergy drug Allegra (fexofenadine) by antiabortion protesters in the USA (see page 15), which has had an impact on the company's decision to quit production of the drug. In the Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman said that "Hoechst cannot take the risk of a US boycott." The new company will introduce the drug in more European markets as well as to reseachers who are invesigating its use in breast and ovarian cancer. The non-profit organization, The Population Council, which has held the US patent since 1994 (Marketletters passim), is expected to begin distribution later this year.