Balance: Fast to market in women's health

Addressing the opportunity to develop needed products for women's health, Balance Pharmaceuticals Inc. is implementing a fast-to-market development strategy using approved drugs in new delivery systems.

Founded in 1992, the company has completed Phase I trials of its lead product, DE2T, a nasal spray hormone whose initial indication will be as an alternative to surgery for uterine fibroids. The company hopes that DE2T ultimately will be the basis for a contraceptive that will provide women with a reduced level of exposure to female sex steroids - a new "balance" - and a resulting reduction in the incidence of breast and ovarian cancers, which are correlated to steroid exposure...