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| Japan's Sankyo to develop stop-smoking patch medicine
TOKYO, Oct 1 (AFP) - Major Japanese drugmaker Sankyo said Wednesday it would develop an over-the-counter version of a stop-smoking patch medicine currently sold by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis for hospital use. The project will be undertaken by Sankyo Co. Ltd. and the Swiss firm's Japanese subsidiary, Novartis Pharma K.K., to tap the growing market for stop-smoking aids. Serious business, investment and technology intelligence for a serious advantage - BizVantage! Sankyo said it planned to start marketing the medicine, Nicotinell TTS, over the counter sometime in the year to March 2007. The retail price has yet to be set. Nicotinell TTS is a patch which releases small amounts of nicotine in a controlled way helping to reduce or remove tobacco withdrawal symptoms. While some Japanese are trying to quit smoking, the health ministry is concerned about a growing rate of young smokers, particularly women, and an increase in smoking-related deaths, which are pushing up national medical costs. Sales of the medicine for hospital use totaled about one billion yen (9.1 million dollars) last year, Novartis officials said. The current prescription version costs 20,000 to 30,000 yen (182 to 273 dollars) for an eight-week treatment session that starts with a large-size patch and is eventually replaced with a smaller one, a Novartis official said. sps/mxs/ja/rmj Japan-pharma-smoking-health-Novartis-Sankyo-company
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