ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997 TAG: 9704090049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PARIS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The company gave the rights to one of the drug's creators, who plans to form a new company that will have nothing to do with the U.S. market.
Threatened by boycotts from American anti-abortion groups, European pharmaceutical giant Hoechst on Tuesday unloaded its remaining rights to the abortion pill RU-486.
The company gave the rights to one of the drug's creators, Dr. Edouard Sakiz, who plans to form a smaller company that will be less vulnerable to consumer pressure.
The move was a further attempt by the French drug company Roussel-Uclaf - a Hoechst subsidiary - to distance itself from the controversial drug. Just two years ago, in the face of boycotts, it ceded U.S. rights to RU-486 to The Population Council, a New York-based nonprofit group.
Sakiz said his new company will have nothing to do with the U.S. market.
``In the United States, they're on the verge of a civil war'' over abortion, he said.
The $3.5 million in annual sales of RU-486 - also known as mifepristone - was not worth risking Hoechst's $1.63 billion in U.S. business, Hoechst spokeswoman Catherine Euvrard said.
``Roussel-Uclaf no longer has the means to be able to withstand the boycott threats'' from American anti-abortion groups, she told reporters in Paris. ``This product can no longer be part of the strategy of an international company.''
An American anti-abortion group last week threatened to boycott Allegra, a Hoechst antihistamine, Euvrard said. Hoechst and Sakiz already had decided to make the transfer, she said.
The Washington-based National Right to Life Committee, which threatened the boycott, said it was not satisfied with the agreement. It said in a statement that no one should have the rights to what it called ``this death pill.'' The group would not comment on the boycott.
About 200,000 women have ended pregnancies with RU-486 since it debuted on the French market in 1988, and it also is sold in Sweden and Britain. In the United States, RU-486 is expected to receive full approval and begin distribution by the year's end.
Alexander Sanger of Planned Parenthood said he hoped the transfer of Hoechst's rights to RU-486 would make the drug more available worldwide.
But Sakiz, who did not pay for rights to the drug, said he would distribute it only to countries that follow strict guidelines for its use, a requirement that would exclude most developing countries and Russia.
Sakiz's company will take over all manufacturing, marketing and distribution of RU-486.
The new company is expected to make little or no profit from RU-486, though any profits from the drug would go toward medical research, Sakiz said.
Sakiz retired from Roussel-Uclaf's board a few days ago to set up the new company, which probably will leave most of the production and distribution to outside companies, he said. He declined to name potential partners.
In the meantime, production will be done by Hoechst.
Sakiz will personally pay the start-up costs of the new company, but said he could not estimate his initial investment.
Asked if he was frustrated by the controversy surrounding distribution of the drug, Sakiz said: ``No, it's a challenge.''
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB