Tanakan may still make reimbursement list

Independent French drugmaker Ipsen has said that its leading drug product, the vasodilator Tanakan, used to treat memory problems in older people, may after all continue to qualify for reimbursement and may not be removed from the list. Ipsen president Jean-Luc Belingard said negotiations with the authorities over Tanakan were "extremely active." An official response is expected within 15 days and early indications are that reimbursement will be maintained at 35% for this key product.

The fear earlier was that reimbursement would be removed after being reduced for a time to 15%. The company is currently running a Phase III trial of 2,800 patients in France to demonstrate that Tanakan reduces by five years the tendency to develop Alzheimer's disease in patients suffering from amnesia.

It is expected that the price of Tanakan will have to be reduced in any event but that the cut will not be as high as the 20% suggested earlier. Ipsen has also confirmed that two applications to register its formulation of Botox will be filed in the USA this year - one for medical indications under the brand name of Dysport and the other for esthetic indications as Reloxin. The US Medicis group has the commercial rights on Reloxin in North America and Japan, while Galderma has the same rights for the esthetic indications in Europe and some other markets.