WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., July 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that, under the terms of an agreement between its subsidiary Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Paladin Labs Inc. , Paladin has obtained approval from the Therapeutic Products Directorate (TPD) of Health Canada to market SEASONALE(R) Tablets, the first extended-cycle oral contraceptive available in Canada. Currently, SEASONALE(R) is marketed in the United States where it was launched in October 2003 by Barr’s subsidiary, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In October 2005 Duramed and Paladin signed a License and Distribution agreement granting Paladin an exclusive license to seek approval for and to market SEASONALE(R) in Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, Duramed will manufacture SEASONALE(R) for Paladin and Paladin will market the product in Canada and pay Duramed a royalty. Duramed will also receive certain milestone payments. Paladin expects to launch SEASONALE in Canada in the 4th quarter of 2007.
“Today’s approval for SEASONALE(R) provides the Company the opportunity to expand our extended-cycle oral contraceptive product offering to the Canadian market,” said Bruce L. Downey, Barr’s Chairman and CEO. “We are pleased to work with our partner, Paladin, to provide Canadian women an additional, unique option in oral contraception. We are confident that Paladin will be able to effectively communicate the benefits of the SEASONALE(R) extended- cycle oral contraceptive regimen to this exciting, new market. In addition, we are pleased that SEASONALE(R) is the first extended-cycle oral contraceptive available in all of North America.”
Under the SEASONALE(R) extended regimen, women take active tablets of 0.15 mg levonorgestrel/0.03 mg of ethinyl estradiol for 84 consecutive days, followed by seven days of placebo. The regimen is designed to reduce the number of withdrawal bleeding periods from 13 to four per year. By contrast, the majority of oral contraceptive products currently available are based on a regimen of 21 treatment days, followed by seven days of placebo.
Important Information About Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives are not for every woman. Serious as well as minor side effects have been reported with the use of hormonal contraceptives. Serious risks include blood clots, stroke, and heart attack. Cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects, especially in women over 35 years. Oral contraceptives do not protect against HIV infection (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases.
About Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical company that operates in more than 30 countries worldwide and is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. A holding company, Barr operates through its principal subsidiaries: Barr Laboratories, Inc., Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and PLIVA d.d. and its subsidiaries. The Barr Group of companies markets more than 115 generic and 25 proprietary products in the U.S. and more than 1,200 products globally outside of the U.S.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the statements made in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by their use of words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “may,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “should,” “intends,” “estimates” and other words of similar meaning. Because such statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements depending upon a number of factors affecting the Company’s business. These factors include, among others: the difficulty in predicting the timing and outcome of legal proceedings, including patent-related matters such as patent challenge settlements and patent infringement cases; the outcome of litigation arising from challenging the validity or non- infringement of patents covering our products; the difficulty of predicting the timing of FDA approvals; court and FDA decisions on exclusivity periods; the ability of competitors to extend exclusivity periods for their products; our ability to complete product development activities in the timeframes and for the costs we expect; market and customer acceptance and demand for our pharmaceutical products; our dependence on revenues from significant customers; reimbursement policies of third party payors; our dependence on revenues from significant products; the use of estimates in the preparation of our financial statements; the impact of competitive products and pricing on products, including the launch of authorized generics; the ability to launch new products in the timeframes we expect; the availability of raw materials; the availability of any product we purchase and sell as a distributor; the regulatory environment in the markets where we operate; our exposure to product liability and other lawsuits and contingencies; the increasing cost of insurance and the availability of product liability insurance coverage; our timely and successful completion of strategic initiatives, including integrating companies (such as PLIVA d.d.) and products we acquire and implementing our new SAP enterprise resource planning system; fluctuations in operating results, including the effects on such results from spending for research and development, sales and marketing activities and patent challenge activities; the inherent uncertainty associated with financial projections; our expansion into international markets through our PLIVA acquisition, and the resulting currency, governmental, regulatory and other risks involved with international operations; our ability to service our significantly increased debt obligations as a result of the PLIVA acquisition; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; and other risks detailed in our SEC filings, including in our Transition Report on Form 10-K/T for the six months ended December 31, 2006.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statement was made. The Company undertakes no obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required under applicable law.
Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Carol A. Cox of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-201-930-3720,ccox@barrlabs.com
Web site: http://www.barrlabs.com//
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/089750.html/
