ProStrakan, the Borders-based specialist drugs firm, yesterday said it had successfully completed a clinical trial for Fortigel as part of the push to launch its cure-all for male menopause in the US.

The treatment, which is aimed at 40-plus males, is a estosterone-replacement treatment for hypogonadal men. The company added that it will file for US regulatory approval in he third quarter.

The trial forms part of Galashiels-based ProStrakan's strategy to gain access to the US testosterone market, which it says is the most developed in the world.

The company said the total US testosterone market was worth $660m (£337m) last year.

Fortigel, known as Tostran in Europe, is a gel for treating testosterone deficiency hypo-gonadism. The condition's symptoms include baldness, weight gain, irritability, reduced libido and erectile dysfunction.

The company said that the launch is scheduled for mid-2009 and would be ProStrakan's second product on the US market if its Sancuso treatment for post-chemotherapy induced nausea is launched later this year.

Shares in ProStrakan, which was created by the merger of Strakan and French biotechnology group ProSkelia, yesterday climbed almost 1%, or 0.5p, to close at 55p.

Earlier this year, Wilson Totten, chief executive of ProStrakan, said the Scottish specialist drug company aimed to more than quadruple its revenue over the next five years following its drive into the lucrative US market.