Schwarz Pharma AG, a German generic-drug maker moving into branded medicines, said its experimental epilepsy treatment met the main goals of late-stage clinical tests. ...
The study confirmed data obtained from an earlier clinical trial on adult patients suffering partial seizures who were given the medicine, the Monheim, Germany-based drugmaker said in a statement to the Frankfurt stock exchange today. The company plans to use the study to apply for marketing approval of the drug, called Lacosamide.
Lacosamide is the most promising of three drugs Schwarz Pharma is developing in its own laboratories. The company has said it expects to garner sales of as much as $1 billion a year from the medicine, which may also help treat neuropathic pain. ...
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Analysts including Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's Tero Weckroth have said Lacosamide may generate more revenue than the company forecasts because its side effects are less unpleasant than those of its main rival Lyrica, introduced to the market by Pfizer Inc. last April.
Chief Executive Officer Patrick Schwarz-Schuette is considering selling some rights to the drug to maximize the product's sales potential.
``We will take a decision by the end of the year,'' Schwarz-Schuette said in an interview in February. ``There's a lot of interest, and I'm open to negotiations. But we won't decide until we have all the data and have submitted our application for approval.''
