Schering AG launches Yasmin OC in USA

Schering AG's US subsidiary, Berlex Laboratories, has launched its newlow-dose monophasic oral contraceptive, Yasmin (drospirenone and ethinylestradiol), in the USA. The drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in May, and was first launched in Germany last year (Marketletters passim). Drospirenone differs from other marketed progestins in that it is very similar to progesterone in its effects and can counteract estrogen-mediated water retention, as well as having antiandrogen properties.

Schering has raised its sales expectations for Yasmin in the wake of what it describes as a "tremendous uptake" of the new product in the European countries into which it has been introduced. The company estimates that more than 500,000 women are currently using Yasmin, and it now expects to realize peak sales of 300 million euros ($257 million) for the product, up from an initial forecast of 200 million euros.