Syntex Gets OK to Sell Drug to Treat Female Disorder

Syntex Corp. said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration gave the company approval to market a new drug for the treatment of endometriosis, a painful disorder of the female reproductive tract that affects some 4 million to 6 million women of childbearing age in the United States.

Synarel, the fourth drug that Syntex has introduced or received marketing approval for in the past year, will be available by prescription in about 10 days, the firm said.

The Palo Alto-based pharmaceuticals company said Synarel is the first drug in its class--one that stimulates the release of certain hormones and is a synthetic derivative of a natural hormone in the brain--to be approved for endometriosis and the first drug approved for the management of the disorder since 1976.