EATONTOWN, N.J., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Roberts Pharmaceutical
Corporation (Nasdaq: RPCX), through its wholly owned subsidiary Roberts
Laboratories, has received an exclusive license from Pfizer Inc. to develop
and market Sampatrilat, a novel new compound to treat essential hypertension
and congestive heart failure.  The agreement provides for transfer of data and
assignment of patent rights to Roberts from Pfizer.  Financial details were
not disclosed.
    Sampatrilat incorporates, in a single substance, two different but
complimentary modes of activity.  It is a potent inhibitor of angiotensin
converting enzyme (ACE) and therefore offers benefits of ACE inhibitors such
as captopril.  Sampatrilat also inhibits neutral endopeptidase which, in turn,
results in an elevation of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), the body's own
natural diuretic.  This dual mode of activity may offer patients and managed
care providers the potential advantages of a treatment regime involving fewer
drugs, reduced risks, and lower costs in comparison to existing therapies.
    Today, treatment of uncomplicated essential hypertension follows a step
therapy paradigm with the initial treatment usually being an ACE inhibitor.
However, normalization of blood pressure may require the addition of a second
drug, generally a diuretic, in combination with the ACE inhibitor.  This type
of step therapy, involving two and sometimes three drugs, can have
consequences in the form of side effects that include the separate and
additive adverse reactions of the different products.
    Diuretics commonly employed with ACE inhibitors can produce side effects
that include potassium depletion, gout, elevated blood lipids, and
abnormalities in sugar metabolism. Because ANF is a natural diuretic that does
not possess these properties, the use of Sampatrilat in hypertension or heart
failure patients may confer, through the administration of a single drug, all
the advantages of a pure ACE inhibitor with the addition of greater
natriuresis (sparing the use of diuretics).
    Dr. Robert A. Vukovich, Roberts President and CEO, who was part of the
original research team that developed the first commercial ACE inhibitor,
said: "We are genuinely excited to have received exclusive rights from Pfizer
to this compound.  Our phase II hypertension program will begin upon
completion of data delivery and will be followed later by initiation of phase
II trials in congestive heart failure."  He concluded by noting: "this is
Roberts second strategic alliance, in the past few months, with a major
pharmaceutical company for development of compounds representing significant
new therapeutic potentials for very large markets.  As part of our long-term
growth strategy, we have structured our pipeline to provide the prospects of
new product launches throughout this decade and into the next."
    Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation, with operating subsidiaries in the
United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, focuses on new health care
solutions through the acquisition and development of specialty
pharmaceuticals.  The Company's first proprietary product, PROAMATINE(R), was
recently launched in the U.S. as the first drug for treating orthostatic
hypotension.  AGRYLIN(TM), Roberts second pipeline product, has since been
launched as the first FDA approved drug for treating essential
thrombocythemia.
    This release may contain forward-looking statements which reflect
management's current views of future events and operations.  These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and external factors,
including assumptions relating to regulatory action and competing products.
Any changes in such assumptions or external factors could produce
significantly different results.

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