For J&J, the deal will add an estimated one and a half percentage points to the growth rate of its drug revenue over the next five years, said William Weldon, company vice chairman. The gain will come primarily through sales of new drugs including Alza's Ditropan XL, a treatment for urinary incontinence, and Concerta, a once-a-day remedy for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. The Alza products are expected to immediately benefit from J&J's deep pockets and world-wide marketing reach that are likely to produce more revenue for the drugs than if they were marketed by Alza alone.

Over the past several years, Alza has added a line of its own medicines to its primary business of providing drug-improvement services to established pharmaceutical companies. Though Alza's own drugs hold considerable potential, their sales have been hampered by Alza's rather modest resources. In the case of Ditropan XL, Ernest Mario, chairman and chief executive of Alza, conceded that the company has been "outgunned and outpromoted" by Pharmacia Corp.'s competing drug Detrol, which has 75 per cent of the roughly $500 million market. Mr Weldon said Alza expects the company to be more competitive with J&J's marketing and sales muscle behind it.

Mr Weldon also made clear that Alza's core technology for improving drugs will be brought to bear on J&J's current products and medicines in development. Results there may take years, but the companies' executives said the potential is great. Alza's delivery-enhancing technology may be used to turn J&J's antipsychotic drug Risperdal into a once-a-day treatment from twice or four times a day, helping it fight off looming competition from Pfizer Inc's new schizophrenia drug Geodon.