BAXTER TRAVENOL MINI-BAG PACKAGING OF THIRD-GENERATION CEPHALOSPORINS

BAXTER TRAVENOL MINI-BAG PACKAGING OF THIRD-GENERATION CEPHALOSPORINS will include products from Hoechst-Roussel and Fujisawa SmithKline. Under the agreement with Hoechst-Roussel announced July 3, Baxter said it will package injectable Claforan (cefotaxime sodium), the first third-generation cephalosporin approved by FDA, in the plastic container system. Two days later, Baxter said it had reached a similar agreement with the Fujisawa SmithKline joint venture for Cefizox (ceftizoxime sodium). Hoechst-Roussel and Fujisawa SmithKline will market the pre-mixed drugs as extensions of their respective product lines. Baxter will distribute the pre-mixed solutions, in frozen form, to hospitals, according to both announcements. The Fujisawa SmithKline release notes that SK&F "has filed a new drug application with FDA and expects approval by year-end 1984." The addition of pre-mixed third-generation cephalosporins adds to a group of other products already available in the Mini-Bags. Baxter currently packages two first-generation cephalosporins, a generic cephalothin and SmithKline's Ancef (cefazolin sodium). Baxter also has an agreement with Merck to package its Mefoxin (cefoxitin sodium), a second generation product, in the Mini-Bag containers.