SYNTEX TORADOL SALES TOP $50 MIL. IN U.S. FOR QUARTER BUT NAPROXEN DECLINE OFFSETS TORADOL GAIN; U.S. DRUG SALES FALL 12% TO $275.2 MIL. FOR QUARTER

Syntex Toradol (ketorolac) U.S. sales were $52.4 mil. in the company's fiscal first quarter, up from $17.7 mil. a year ago, Syntex reported Nov. 25. "Toradol is currently our number one marketing priority," said Syntex Chairman Paul Freiman. "We have assigned our entire U.S. sales force to this important product, and we're beginning to see the results of that extra effort." According to "independent audit data" cited by the company, new prescriptions for Toradol have ramped up from 190,000 in August to 204,000 in September and 248,000 in October. Worldwide sales of Toradol nearly tripled to $67.8 mil. for the quarter. "Toradol has now been used by more than 8 mil. patients in 25 countries," Freiman said. Toradol's $44 mil. worldwide sales increase was not enough to offset a 19% decline in sales of Syntex' flagship nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Naprosyn/Anaprox. Naproxen sales declined by $49.1 mil. to $212.3 mil. for the quarter. The drop in Naproxen sales came entirely in the U.S., where sales fell 28% to $147 mil. Sales outside the U.S. were up 14% to $65.3 mil. for the quarter. "U.S. sales of the company's more mature pharmaceutical products...were affected by significant reductions in wholesaler inventory levels, which the company believes stabilized in November," Syntex explained. Syntex' total U.S. pharmaceutical sales declined 12% to $275.2 mil. in the quarter, offsetting an 18% increase in non-U.S. sales (to $139.8 mil.). Syntex worldwide pharmaceutical sales were down 4% to $415 mil. The sales decline coupled with a $180 mil. restructuring charge led the company to post a net loss of $6.1 mil. for the quarter.