Scotia Hit By Loss Of Diabetes Drug Partner

Scotia saw its share price plunge last week on the day of the announcement of the termination of its marketing agreement with Pharmacia & Upjohn. The deal concerned the marketing of Scotia's diabetes product Tarabetic (EF4), and was agreed with Pharmacia prior to the merger with Upjohn.

EF4 (gamma linolenic acid), which is being developed in the first instance for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, has been submitted to the UK authorities for approval; Scotia had been working with Pharmacia on the dossiers for other countries. Scotia has a policy of out-licensing its products in all non-UK markets.

Pursuing Other Avenues Following the demise of the P&U deal, Scotia has now entered into discussion with other firms with existing franchises in diabetes, and licensing discussions are said to be ongoing for the European, Japanese and American markets. The company was upbeat on the prospects for the drug, noting that "the termination of the Pharmacia agreement, together with the announcement by Roche that it is discontinuing development of acetyl-L-carnitine...for diabetic retinopathy, have crea-ted new opportunities which Scotia believes can be exploited successfully."