US Firm Set Up To Market Mifepristone Abortion Pill

The US non-profit Population Council, which holds US patent rights tothe Roussel Uclaf abortion pill mifepristone (also known as RU-486), has set up a new company, Advances for Choice, to market the drug. The new firm, whose limited partners are remaining anonymous because of the controversy over the drug, will design US distribution of the product.

The formation of the company comes after the settlement of a suit between the group and Joseph Pike, after he was accused of using the project as an illegal money-making scheme. Partners in Advances for Choice include those from an earlier company, Advances in Health Technology, in which Mr Pike was a major investor, according to Reuters.

It is hoped by the Population Council to have mifepristone approved in the USA and on the market by end-1997, according to the group's president, Margaret Catley-Carlson. The Council has already run clinical tests, results of which should be released in a few weeks. In September 1996, the US Food and Drug Administration said mifepristone was safe and effective, but is now waiting for more information on manufacturing and labeling.