Norgine has won its first marketing approval in the USA, getting a green light for Moviprep, a bowel cleansing agent used before colonoscopy procedures, used in the early detection of colorectal cancers.

The UK-based company granted exclusive US marketing tights for Moviprep (PEG 3350, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid for oral solution) to Salix Pharmaceuticals last December. Salix said it expects to launch the product during the fourth quarter of 2006.

Commenting on the USA licence Peter Stein, Norgine’s chief executive, said; “This is Norgine’s first product approval in the USA, and as such is a significant milestone for the company.”

More than 10 million uses of bowel cleansing agents were prescribed in the USA last year, and the use of a bowel cleansing agent is a pre-requisite to a colonoscopy.