US market launch for cancer patch

The patch has now been launched onto the $1.3bn US market

A Borders drugs company has made a first "major achievement" in its bid to move into the US pharmaceutical market.

Galashiels-based ProStrakan has launched Sancuso - a patch to help prevent sickness in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The firm says the product has annual sales potential of more than $100m.

Chief executive Dr Wilson Totten said the patch was the first of a number of treatments it hoped to launch on the US market over the next two years.

Sancuso was given approval by the American Food and Drug Administration earlier this year.

A 67-strong sales force in the US will now be used to market the product.

Dr Totten said: "The launch of Sancuso in the US is a major achievement for ProStrakan and our new sales team is now fully equipped to introduce Sancuso to oncologists and oncology nurses across the US.

"With peak sales potential of more than $100m, Sancuso is being launched into a market worth $1.3bn and is the first of a number of products that we plan to launch in the US over the next two years."