Biovail Corporation has terminated its sub-licensing and manufacturing agreements with Schering-Plough Corporation to market and distribute Cedax (ceftibuten), an oral third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic, in the United States. Shionogi & Co, Ltd. of Japan will begin marketing and distributing Cedax in the United States through its affiliate, Shionogi USA, Inc.

Cedax, which was originally discovered by Shionogi and licensed to Schering-Plough, received marketing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in 1995. Indicated for mild to moderate acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, acute bacterial otitis media, pharyngitis and tonsillitis, the once-a-day medication was launched by Schering-Plough in 1996 and achieved peak sales of US$52 million in 1997. Biovail Pharmaceuticals Inc. has distributed Cedax in the United States since October 2000, following Biovail's acquisition of DJ Pharma Inc, the company informed.

"For the past year, Cedax has represented an increasingly small portion of Biovail's legacy products portfolio," said Eugene Melnyk, chairman and CEO of Biovail Corporation. "Cedax no longer represents a priority for us as we focus our sales efforts on more important therapeutically focused products, such as Cardizem LA, Teveten and Zovirax. The mutual decision with Schering-Plough to terminate this agreement will further enable Biovail to focus additional resources toward growing marketing share for its other products and brands that are more in keeping with its long-term strategies for growth," he added.

Biovail Corporation is an international pharmaceutical company, engaged in the formulation, clinical testing, registration, manufacture, sale and promotion of pharmaceutical products utilizing advanced drug-delivery technologies.