Nipent Drug

SuperGen Inc. said it won approval from the Food and Drug Administration to make in the U.S. a drug for treating a rare form of leukemia. When SuperGen had bought the drug, Nipent, from Warner-Lambert Co., in September 1996, it inherited the right to sell it but needed FDA approval for its manufacture. Nipent, known chemically as pentostatin, is used to treat hairy-cell leukemia, a rare blood disease that strikes mostly men, causes severe anemia and enlarges the spleen.

SuperGen Inc. said it won approval from the Food and Drug Administration to make in the U.S. a drug for treating a rare form of leukemia. When SuperGen had bought the drug, Nipent, from Warner-Lambert Co., in September 1996, it inherited the right to sell it but needed FDA approval for its manufacture. Nipent, known chemically as pentostatin, is used to treat hairy-cell leukemia, a rare blood disease that strikes mostly men, causes severe anemia and enlarges the spleen.

* Alberto-Culver Co., the world's No. 1 seller of hair products to salons, said it bought beauty products distributor CosmoProf of Chatsworth to expand into Los Angeles and Hawaii. Terms weren't disclosed. * SuperGen Inc., the Dublin, Calif.-based maker of the Nipent leukemia drug, said it withdrew a U.S. application to sell a pancreatic cancer medicine because regulators indicated that they would reject it.