ARMOUR ADDING 10 BEHRINGWERKE PLASMA DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS FOR U.S. MARKET

Armour is boosting its plasma fraction business by adding 10 Behringwerke AG plasma derivative products for eventual marketing in the U.S., according to a March 27-announced agreement between Armour parent Revlon and the Hoechst GmbH subsidiary. The agreement, Revlon said, "also provides Armour with U.S. marketing rights to certain future new products developed by Behringwerke." Among the Behringwerke products Armour hopes to market in the U.S. in the near future are Venimmun I.V. gammaglobulin, indicated to restore the natural immune response in certain patient populations such as gammaglobulin deficient disease and burn victims; Cytomegaloimmunoglobulin, an I.V. globulin preparation containing high titers of cytomegalovirus antibodies indicated for use in patient populations exposed to or at risk of infection; and PBsB Concentrate (a Factor 9 complex product) stabilized and heated in liquid form to prevent viral contamination, and indicated for the treatment of hemophilia where patients were deficient in Factor 9. Another of the products under the agreement is hematin, derived from outdated red blood cells, for the treatment of intermittent porphyria. Last July, Abbott's hematin product Panhematin was approved by FDA on the basis of studies in the literature not performed by the company. None of the 10 Behringwerke plasma derivatives are currently approved for marketing in the U.S. Revlon stated that while "Behringwerke is one of the leading mfrs. of plasma fractions in the world," it "does not presently distribute such fractions in this country." Armour is "presently among the leading companies in the U.S. in plasma fractions sales and the largest domestic distributor of blood coagulation products which are used by hemophiliacs to control bleeding," Revlon said.