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I came across the following news item which may be of interest:- "Tuesday May 13 9:01 AM EDT Company Press Release Discovery and Yoshitomi sign Japanese Parkinson patch deal RICHMOND, Va.--(BW HealthWire)--May 13, 1997--Discovery Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that they have licensed their transdermal patch for the treatment of Parkinson's disease to Yoshitomi Pharmaceuticals Industry, Ltd. for development and marketing in Japan. The deal could be worth more than $50 million in fees, fixed payments and royalties to Discovery over the product's expected lifetime in Japan. ``This is one of the most exciting transactions we have made so far with U.S. biotechnology companies,'' said Yoji Nakajima, managing director and member of the board of directors at Yoshitomi. ``We look forward to a fruitful relationship with Discovery.'' Discovery's N-0923 is a novel dopamine agonist that has been demonstrated in human clinical trials to be efficacious in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It is delivered through the skin using a transdermal system. Because transdermal administration provides stable and continuous plasma levels of medication, the N-0923 patch should help improve the fluctuations and sudden loss of symptom control that many Parkinson's disease patients experience. Stable levels of N-0923 should reduce the need for supplemental doses of levodopa/carbidopa and therefore help patients avoid side effects, such as dyskinesia (jerky or irregular movement). Results of an interim analysis of data from a Phase IIb clinical trial showed that the N-0923 patch fully replaced existing oral agonist therapy and reduced daily levodopa dosage in all four patient treatment groups by an average of 20-30% compared to baseline. Discovery Therapeutics is continuing to discuss potential development and marketing partnerships with pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe. The total market for Parkinson's disease treatments in Japan is estimated by Connect Pharma to be $291 million (U.S.) per year, or 22% of the total world market. This market is growing as the elderly population in Japan continues to increase. More than $1 billion (U.S.) are spent worldwide for therapeutic agents to treat PD, a debilitating neurological disorder that afflicts more than 1% of the population over the age of 50. Patients suffer rigidity, difficulty walking, muscle tremor and slowness of movement. The disease is caused by degeneration of a region in the brain that secretes dopamine, a neurotransmitter signal molecule that coordinates voluntary muscle activity. Most treatments therefore consist of various attempts to replace or supplement the lost dopamine. Yoshitomi Pharmaceuticals Industry, Ltd. is the Japanese market leader in central nervous system pharmaceuticals, while having an extensive coverage of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and immunology/allergy products, in addition to a broad-range chemicals business. The company will be one of the ten largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan, after its planned acquisition of Green Cross. Discovery Therapeutics, Inc. is an independent company founded to invent, develop and commercialize pharmaceuticals for poorly-met medical needs using novel signal molecule technologies. Discovery has two technology platforms: one based on dopamine for the treatment of. movement disorders and the other on adenosine for the treatment and diagnosis of coronary artery disease and cardiac dysrhythmias." Does anyone know anything about it? Ray Lakin