Transfer of marketing rights for ImmuCyst® 81mg
(This document is an English translation of the Japanese language original.)
Sanofi-aventis K.K. (hereinafter: "sanofi-aventis"; Headquarters: Shinjuku, Tokyo; President: Patrick Chocat) and Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. (hereinafter: "Nippon Kayaku"; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Koichiro Shimada) announced today that both companies agreed to transfer the marketing rights from Nippon Kayaku to sanofi-aventis on November 30, 2009 for the antineoplastic agent "ImmuCyst® 81mg" [generic name: Freeze-dried Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG) for Intrvesical Use (Connaught strain)] for which Nippon Kayaku has the marketing approval in Japan. As a result, sanofi-aventis will become the sole marketer of this drug from December 1, 2009.
ImmuCyst® is an antineoplastic agent with the Connaught strain of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) as the active ingredient, developed by Connaught Laboratories in Canada (now Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine division of the sanofi-aventis Group). In Japan, Nippon Kayaku obtained its marketing approval for treating superficial bladder cancer and carcinoma in situ (CIS) in October 2002. Out side of Japan, the drug is approved 52 countries around the world primarily for preventing the recurrence of superficial bladder cancer following transurethral resection, and for treating/preventing the recurrence of CIS.
