Monday November 30, 4:33 pm Eastern Time
BioChem Pharma announcement/drug approval
Hundreds of millions of people infected worldwide

LAVAL, QC and MISSISSAUGA, ON, Nov. 30 /CNW/ - Glaxo Wellcome Inc. and BioChem Pharma Inc. (Toronto:BCH.TO - news) announced today that Heptovir(TM) (lamivudine), the first oral anti-viral medication for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, was approved by the Therapeutic Products Program of Health Canada.

It is estimated that 250,000 Canadians are chronically infected with hepatitis B(2). Chronic hepatitis B infection can cause serious liver disease (cirrhosis) and can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and death. Worldwide, forty per cent of men and 15 per cent of women who become infected with hepatitis B in early childhood will die prematurely from hepatitis B complications.

``We are proud that this Canadian discovery has the potential to positively impact this very significant medical need,'' said Dr. Gervais Dionne, Executive Vice President, Research and Development, BioChem Pharma.''

``Heptovir helps control disease progression by allowing many patients to seroconvert, which means the virus stops replicating and immunity is achieved,'' said Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of Alberta who first showed lamivudine to be active against hepatitis B. ``Patients taking Heptovir have the added benefit of improvements in liver disease, regardless of whether they develop immunity to the virus.'' Dr. Tyrrell screened lamivudine for use in hepatitis B at a lab in the Glaxo Heritage Research Institute located at the University of Alberta.

One of the first patients in the world to receive Heptovir was a patient of Dr. Tyrrell's. ``If it wasn't for Heptovir, I would not have even been a candidate for a liver transplant and there is a good chance that I wouldn't be here today,'' said Kit Li, who received Heptovir before and after his liver transplant in 1994. ``I'm happy to say that my new liver is still virus free and I have a normal life again.''

Lamivudine was discovered by BioChem Pharma and was developed throughout the world by Glaxo Wellcome Inc. Canada is one of the first countries in the world to approve Heptovir. ``Heptovir is a great Canadian success story that will help many of the more than 300 million people who are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus worldwide,'' added Dr. Dionne.

According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world and the ninth most common cause of death. An estimated one to two million people per year, or as many as 4,500 people every day, die from hepatitis B-related complications. Under the terms of the BioChem-Glaxo Wellcome license agreement, BioChem will receive a royalty based on sales and Glaxo Wellcome has the right to develop, manufacture and sell Heptovir worldwide. An equally owned partnership will commercialize Heptovir in Canada.

BioChem Pharma Inc. is an international biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of innovative products for the detection, prevention and treatment of human diseases.

Heptovir(TM) is a trade-mark of Glaxo Group Limited, Glaxo Wellcome Inc., licensed use to Glaxo Wellcome BioChem.