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SB in Cuban drug deal
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July 28, 1999: 9:52 a.m. ET
Drug maker receives U.S. approval to develop Cuban meningitis vaccine
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Pharmaceutical maker SmithKline Beecham said Wednesday it has received U.S. approval to develop a meningitis vaccine invented in Cuba.
The deal provides further evidence of the softening U.S. stance on its trade embargo with Cuba, and comes the same day hundreds of Cuban Americans plan to lobby Congress against the ban on U.S. exports of food and medicine to the Caribbean island nation.
SmithKline said it has been licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department to negotiate a deal with the Cuban-based Finlay Institute to develop its meningitis vaccine for marketing overseas.
The vaccine, developed in the wake of an outbreak of the killer disease in the 1980s, already has been marketed by the institute in Latin America.
"There is an unmet medical need for this vaccine, given that there is none for meningitis at present," a SmithKlineBeecham spokesman said.
SmithKline's (SB) shares climbed 2.9 percent to 761 pence on the news.
The company required U.S. approval because its Belgian-based drug testing unit is owned by a U.S. subsidiary of the company. SmithKline initially will pay the Institute in food and medicine for the license to the drug, and then in cash when it comes to market.
SmithKline said it will be "several years" before its vaccine is marketed. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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SmithKline Beecham
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