Atrix Laboratories, Inc. announced that Eligard 7.5mg and Eligard 22.5mg (leuprolide acetate for injectable suspension) one- and three-month sustained release products were launched in Germany by Yamanouchi.

Eligard is indicated for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

"We are pleased to have Eligard competing in Germany, the third largest market in the world for this type of treatment," said David R. Bethune, chairman and chief executive officer at Atrix. "We look forward to other European approvals and launches over the next several years."

In early December 2003 and early January 2004, MediGene received marketing authorization for one-month Eligard and three-month Eligard products respectively. In early 2004, Atrix and MediGene AG signed a pan-European marketing agreement with Yamanouchi. The majority of Yamanouchi's European sales come in the therapeutic area of urology. Yamanouchi's most prominent urology pharmaceutical product is Omnic/Flomax (tamsulosin), the number one treatment for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) in the world.

Yamanouchi will also be responsible for achieving additional marketing authorizations in Concerned Member States throughout Europe under a Mutual Recognition process.