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Merck Ltd., Japan Launches EpiPen®
Emergency treatment for anaphylaxis is Merck’s first product for the Japanese Pharmaceutical market
Tokyo, Japan, August 22, 2003 - Merck Ltd. today announced it will launch EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg, the first approved auto-injector that intramuscularly administers epinephrine, the emergency supportive therapy for anaphylaxis.
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be fatal within minutes if untreated. The most common triggers of anaphylaxis are food allergy, insect venom allergy, drug allergy and latex allergy. About 30 deaths occur annually in Japan from anaphylaxis due to insect stings.
The automatic injection system allows patients to quickly administer a suitable single 0.3 mg dose of epinephrine. The self-injection procedure is easy, safe, relatively painless and overall very effective as epinephrine reverses the effects of anaphylaxis almost immediately. In Japan, the use of EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg is approved for the treatment of anaphylaxis occurring in response to stings by insects like bees, wasps and hornets
EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg is an ethical drug, i.e. a doctor’s prescription is needed to buy it, but expenses are not reimbursed by the health insurance system. What makes EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg superior to the conventional emergency kits for the treatment of anaphylaxis is that, due to its portability and ease of use, the auto-injector can be readily available almost always and everywhere.
As EpiPen® is used in life-threatening situations, apart from medical supervision, patient education about its safe and effective use is essential. For this reason, EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg comes with several patient materials such as a user manual, a CD-ROM and a reusable EpiPen® training device. Furthermore two websites, www.EpiPen.jp and www.anaphylaxis.jp, offer valuable information about anaphylaxis and its treatment.
Merck Ltd., Japan is a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, one of the oldest leading Pharmaceutical and Chemical companies in the world. The Merck group operates in 53 countries around the world and employs about 34,500 people.
EpiPen® injection 0.3 mg will be introduced to Japan in cooperation with Dey L.P., a U.S. affiliate of Merck KGaA that specializes in prescription drug products for the treatment of selected respiratory diseases and allergies. Dey has the exclusive global marketing rights for EpiPen® and plenty of experience with the product and in the field of allergies and anaphylaxis in general.
Following its introduction in Canada and the U.S. in 1980, EpiPen® is now available in more than 20 countries and, in 2002, about 2.8 million pens were distributed worldwide. In the U.S. EpiPen® is the only available epinephrine auto-injector and was sold over two million times.
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Contact: Dey, L.P. Media Line 1-800-755-5560 ext. 8363
