04303 Roche Bondronat (2003?)

The next model is somewhat obscure. Before I bought this lot I have never seen another, so I'd say this must be quite rare.
Again, Corgi 04303 is refinished, this time both the model and the box receive some stickers. The roundel sticker is in German and reads “Bondronat / Ostac ...für mehr Lebensqualität” (...for more quality of life).

The decoration is done with thin transparent plastic stickers (not waterslide decals). A dark blue Bondronat sticker on the passenger side, a lighter blue Roche logo on the roof panel and, not visible through the box window, a red Ostac sticker on the driver's side.

This promo has a little brother, too. This is the Johnny Lightning model that was also sold as Corgi with a changed baseplate. The small Bondronat model comes in a special miniature 04303 box. This is a litho-printed and die-cut box made from the original artwork reduced to half size, not like a scanned and colourprinted reprobox. So it most likely came directly from Corgi this way. The small box has an additional (Roche?) item number on the base: 455 0008292 (BON-AUTO).

Of course I had to look up what Bondronat and Ostac are: They are both used against osteoporosis, mainly in combination with cancer treatment that affects bone density. Was this given away to patients, to doctors or to drugstores as shop window decoration?

Again, I have no idea how many have been produced, and when. Bondronat got its approval in October 2003 but the 04303 had been replaced with the Definitive Collection version two years earlier. Maybe from the time the medication was introduced for clinical studies a few years before its 2003 approval.