The company made application to market Zomig® to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in April last year. The approved indication is for the acute treatment of migraine.

Zomig® is taken as a 2.5mg tablet and has an excellent effect in relieving pain at the time of an attack and continuing pain after an attack. It selectively acts on the 5-HT 1B/1D receptor.

Since its first launch in the US in 1997, Zomig® has been marketed in more than 50 countries. It is the top selling second generation triptan and in 2000 had worldwide sales of $237m - an increase of 25 per cent on the previous year.

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of ethical (prescription) pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with healthcare sales of $15.8 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, anaesthesia including pain management, cardiovascular, central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory products.