TheraTech ready to go with Androderm; A windfall for Viagene shareholders; Gilead: looking past Vistide

When TheraTech Inc.’s Androderm testosterone patch received FDA approval for hypogonadism last week, the Salt Lake City company and its marketing partner, SmithKline Beecham, were ready and waiting. Plans are to launch Androderm in the next few weeks, and shipping to SmithKline could begin as early as this week.

THRT is ready to meet the demand for the patch - its first product to reach the market - because it began manufacturing commercial quantities in July. At the current rate of production, the company can produce 70 million patches annually. By spring, THRT expects to be producing 140 million patches a year...