Growth Drug Gets Nod From FDA: Pharmacia...

Growth Drug Gets Nod From FDA: Pharmacia said its Genotropin drug was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for the long-term treatment of children suffering from growth failure. “Physicians, patients and payers in the U.S., the world’s largest growth-hormone market, will now have access to Genotropin,” said Fernando da Costa, Pharmacia’s president. Pharmacia said Genotropin has more than 50% of the market outside the United States and has worldwide sales of more than $370 million a year. Recent studies indicate that about one in every 3,500 children is growth-hormone-deficient. The hormone deficiency results from a defect in the pituitary gland that affects metabolism and slows growth. If the condition is not treated, children will be significantly smaller than their peers and will become abnormally small adults.