Danco Laboratories

Last updated
Danco Laboratories
Industry Pharmaceutical
Headquarters New York, United States
Area served
United States
Products mifepristone

Danco Laboratories is a pharmaceutical distributor located in midtown Manhattan which distributes the abortifacient drug mifepristone under the brand name Mifeprex. Mifeprex is the only drug distributed by Danco, although the company plans to expand to other drugs in the future.

Contents

Danco is a private company that does not disclose the names of its investors, but stated that "[Investors] included wealthy individuals and foundations that supported abortion rights." [1] [2]

Outside the United States, mifepristone is distributed by the French pharmaceutical company Exelgyn.

History

On 16 May 1994, Roussel-Uclaf announced it was donating without remuneration all rights for medical uses of mifepristone in the United States to the Population Council, [3] which would then sponsor clinical trials for mifepristone between September 1994 and September 1995. [4] In September 1995, The Population Council licensed mifepristone to Danco Laboratories and entered into a manufacturing agreement with Hungarian drug manufacturer Gedeon Richter. [5] In 1996, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conditionally licensed RU-486 for early trimester abortion, pending a resolution on some remaining technical and manufacturing issues. [4]

In 1997, Gideon Richter withdrew from efforts to manufacture mifepristone in the United States following opposition from pro-life groups, which led to Danco filing a breach of contract lawsuit. [6]

On September 28, 2000, Danco Laboratories received approval to distribute mifepristone (under the Mifeprex brand name) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [7]

See also

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References

  1. "How A Drugmaker Turned The Abortion Pill Into A Rare-Disease Profit Machine". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  2. Rutherford, Fiona (2023-04-14). "Why you've never heard of the company behind the abortion pill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  3. Seelye KQ (17 May 1994). "Accord opens way for abortion pill in U.S. in 2 years". The New York Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 Simonds, Wendy; Ellertson, Charlotte; Springer, Kimberly; Winikoff, Beverly (20 March 1998). "Abortion, revised: participants in the U.S. clinical trials evaluate mifepristone" (Archive). Social Science & Medicine. The Stacks Reader. 46 (10): 1313–1323. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(97)10063-6 . Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  5. "DANCO LABORATORIES LIMITED v. The Washington Post Company, Intervenor-Appellant. (2000)". Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York. July 27, 2000. Retrieved June 13, 2024 via caselaw.findlaw.com.
  6. "ABORTION PILL'S U.S. SPONSOR SUING HUNGARIAN DRUG FIRM". Washington Post. 1997-06-12. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  7. Kolata G (29 September 2000). "U.S. approves abortion pill; drug offers more privacy and could reshape debate". The New York Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017.