Life Sciences, Drug Development, pharmaceuticals

Sepracor Asks FDA to Okay Epilepsy Drug

Wade Roush 3/31/09

Marlborough, MA-based Sepracor (NASDAQ: SEPR), known mainly for its sleep aid Lunesta, said today that it has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of a compound called eslicarbazepine acetate as an adjunct to other therapies in adult epilepsy patients. Sepracor says the sodium-channel blocker—developed by Portuguese pharmaceutical company BIAL-Portela and licensed by Sepracor in 2007—has been tested in a multi-country Phase III study involving more than 1,000 patients. The company, which proposes to market the compound under the trade name Stedesa, estimates the U.S. market for epilepsy drugs at $3.5 billion.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.