Schering-Plough Corporation announced that the company will establish Schering-Plough Produtos Farmaceuticos Limitada as a wholly owned country operation based in Sao Paulo to market its core products, and will restructure its agreement with Mantefarma, a privately held company in Brazil.

"The actions announced are part of Schering-Plough's long-term global geographic expansion strategy," said Fred Hassan, chairman and chief executive officer, Schering-Plough Corporation. "Investing in the Latin America region and other emerging markets represents another step in our journey to transform Schering-Plough into a global, high-performance health care company."

Schering-Plough entered into an agreement in 1991 with Mantefarma to market and distributes several products through Industria Quimica e Farmaceutica Schering-Plough, S.A. Under a new agreement, Mantefarma, which will now be known as Mantecorp, will continue to manufacture a number of Schering-Plough primary care products.

Miguel Porto has been appointed general manager of Schering-Plough Produtos Farmaceuticos Limitada, and will report to Pierre Verstraete, group vice president and president, Latin America Region. Prior to this position, Porto was vice president, Operations for the Latin America and Asia Pacific Regions.

Schering-Plough Produtos Farmaceuticos Limitada will assume commercial responsibility for Schering-Plough specialty care products, including PEG-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b), Temodal (temozolomide) and Caelyx (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin HCl). The company also will market the primary care products Zetia (ezetimibe), Zetsim (ezetimibe/simvastatin), Claritin (loratadine), Clarinex (desloratadine) and Nasonex (mometasone furoate monohydrate).

In addition, Schering-Plough Animal Health, known locally as Schering-Plough Saude Animal Industria e Comercio Limitada, is based in Sao Paulo. Schering-Plough Saude Animal Industria e Comercio Limitada, a wholly owned, separate country operation and legal entity, has operated for over 50 years, employs more than 150 people, and offers a wide range of veterinary products. Additionally, 18 people are employed in Schering-Plough's research and development operation, also based in Sao Paulo.