Schering-Plough Announces New Drug Application for Sugammadex Assigned Priority Review Status b...( KENILWORTH N.J. Jan. 2 /- Scherin...)

KENILWORTH, N.J., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assigned priority review status to the company's New Drug Application (NDA) for sugammadex.

Sugammadex is specifically designed to reverse the effects of certain muscle relaxants, marketed in the United States as ZEMURON(R) (rocuronium bromide) and vecuronium bromide. Muscle relaxants are used as part of general anesthesia during surgical procedures. If approved, sugammadex will be the first in a new class of drugs known as selective relaxant binding agents that work in an entirely new and unique way to encapsulate the muscle relaxant molecule and render it inactive.

"Organon, now part of Schering-Plough Corporation, has had a strong presence in the anesthesia market for over 35 years," said Robert J. Spiegel, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president, Schering-Plough Research Institute. "The development of sugammadex is an exciting advance for the practice of anesthesia. This novel drug has the potential to change the way doctors practice anesthesia as it will allow anesthesiologists to rapidly and safely reverse both shallow and profound levels of muscle relaxation, which is not possible with current reversal agents."

Schering-Plough acquired sugammadex through its combination with Organon BioSciences on November 19, 2007.

About Sugammadex

Sugammadex is a novel selective relaxant binding agent (SRBA) under development by Organon, a part of Schering-Plough Corporation. Sugammadex was designed to reverse the effects of rocuronium bromide (ZEMURON/ESMERON(R)/ESLAX(R)) or vecuronium bromide, muscle relaxants commonly used during surgeries
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