Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc, a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Corona, California, has entered into a licensing agreement with Debiopharm SA, the independent drug-development company specializing in oncology, endocrinology, CNS and niche diseases, to market Trelstar Depot 3.75mg and Trelstar LA 11.25mg (triptorelin pamoate), within the United States and Canada.

Debiopharm will supply the Trelstar products exclusively to Watson and will receive an upfront payment from Watson.

Debiopharm's Trelstar Depot 3.75mg and Trelstar LA 11.25mg products, formulated using Debio PLGA proprietary technology, are sustained release one- and three-month intramuscular injectable formulations of triptorelin pamoate, a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist. Both products are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer in the US and by the Canadian Therapeutic Products Directorate for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer and endometriosis in Canada. These products are currently marketed outside the United States as Decapeptyl.

"We are excited about these products from Debiopharm, as they expand our presence in the urology market and leverage our specialty urology sales force's efforts in this area," said Allen Chao, Watson's chairman and CEO. "Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed condition by urologists, so providing a product that addresses urologists' needs for long-term efficacy is a great opportunity for Watson. We look forward to launching these products in the first quarter 2005 and expect them to be neutral to earnings in 2005," he added.

"We are delighted to be collaborating with Watson, a dynamic sales and marketing company," Rolland-Yves Mauvernay, president and CEO of Debiopharm said adding, "Their focus on urology and the strong relationships they have with key customers perfectly fits the criteria Debio was searching for in a partner for Trelstar and we are confident they will do an excellent job at commercializing Trelstar."

Trelstar Depot and Trelstar LA (triptorelin pamoate for injectable suspension) are one and three month sustained-release formulations of triptorelin, an analog of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH or GnRH) with greater potency than naturally occurring LHRH.