Schering Rebetol

Hepatitis C treatment Rebetol (ribavirin) approved July 26 as a separate product to be used in combination with Intron A, Schering-Plough says. Rebetol is approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in patients with compensated liver disease previously untreated with, or relapsed on, alpha interferon. Ribavirin/Intron A was first approved as a combination therapy in 1998 as Rebetron; patient advocacy groups complained that bundling the products denies patients the opportunity to try to use cheaper interferon brands in combination with ribavirin (1"The Pink Sheet" Aug. 30, 1999, p. 7). Schering plans to launch the drug this fall. As is the case with most Schering products, FDA's recent inspection reports on the company include observations about the production of ribavirin