Ribavirin Marketing Pact Clears Hurdle

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday that its deal with industry giant Schering-Plough for the international marketing of ICN’s prized antiviral drug, ribavirin, has cleared an antitrust hurdle.

The Federal Trade Commission has given ICN approval to proceed with the marketing arrangement. Schering-Plough will direct clinical efforts to prove that ICN’s drug, named Virazole, works with the New Jersey company’s interferon drug to treat the highly contagious liver ailment hepatitis C.

The FTC imposes a waiting period for all agreements of more than $15 million to determine if they violate any antitrust laws, FTC spokeswoman Bonnie Jansen said.

Schering will pay ICN a $23-million licensing fee and royalties to market ribavirin worldwide, except in Europe. In addition, the New Jersey company will purchase up to $42 million worth of ICN stock in the future, if the combined treatment receives approval from health agencies in the United States and abroad.