Photofrin Approved In Germany; Fall Launch

QLT Phototherapeutics' light activated drug Photofrin (porfimer sodium)has been approved in Germany for the curative treatment of patients with early-stage endobronchial non-small cell lung cancer.

The approval sparks a $1 million payment from Beaufour Ipsen, which will market the product in Germany and throughout Europe. In Europe, Photofrin has already been approved in France and the Netherlands for the treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, while an approval is pending in Italy, and Beaufour Ipsen says it plans to launch the product in all the European countries where it has been approved in the fall.

Photofrin remains the only drug to be approved for use in photodynamic therapy, and is currently marketed in the USA for esophageal cancer by Sanofi; in Canada for bladder and esophageal cancer by Ligand Pharmaceuticals; and in Japan for early-stage lung cancer, superficial esophageal cancer, superficial and early-stage gastric cancer, early-stage cervical cancer and cervical dysplasia by Lederle (Japan) Ltd.