Taltirelin (Tanabe Seiyaku).

Taltirelin (TA-0910), a synthetic thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) analog, has been developed by Tanabe Seiyaku for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases [154099], [263997]. An NDA was filed in Japan in April 1999 for the treatment of spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) [296442] and was approved in July 2000 [391719]; the drug was launched in Japan in September 2000 [382555], [383484]. It is the first orally administered drug for this indication [382555]. In September 2001, UBS Warburg (Japan) stated that total sales of taltirelin in 2000 were Yen 3.5 bn, and estimated that sales in 2001 would reach Yen 7.6 bn, rising to Yen 8.6 bn by 2005 [433991]. Also in this month, Morgan Stanley predicted that there would be sales of Yen 8 bn in 2001, rising to Yen 10 bn in 2002 [422782].