MEDICAL

Newport Pharmaceuticals said it has obtained approval to market its proprietary drug Isoprinosine in Japan. The Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare approved the drug for the treatment of a very rare form of measles in children. Commercial sales of the drug in Japan, scheduled to begin in the fall, thus are not expected to be significant. Much more significant, the Newport Beach-based company said, is the vigor of the approval process for marketing drugs in Japan, which is considered similar to that of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Newport Pharmaceuticals is in the process of gathering data to obtain FDA approval to sell Isoprinosine in the United States for the treatment of AIDS-related complex. Judy Archbold, vice president and general counsel for the company, said the FDA several years ago refused to approve the sale of the drug for treating the rare form of measles called SSPE. But she said the company recently submitted additional data to support its application.