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Allergan Predicts Big Growth for Sanctura XR

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0761070020080207

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Thu Feb 7, 2008 4:15pm EST

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of Allergan Inc on Thursday predicted that sales of the company's recently acquired Sanctura drug for overactive bladder could double this year due to a new formulation that is much less likely to cause dry mouth side effects.

When Allergan in October acquired Sanctura through its purchase of Esprit Pharma, the pill had annual sales of about $40 million, barely a blip on the screen compared to Pfizer Inc's rival $1 billion-a-year Detrol brand. Other similar treatments include Johnson & Johnson's Ditropan XL, and Enablex, sold by Novartis and Procter & Gamble Co.

Allergan in January launched a new once-daily form of its bladder drug, called Sanctura XR, that causes dry mouth symptoms in about 11 percent of patients. That compares with dry mouth in 20 percent of those taking the original twice-daily formulation of Sanctura and 23 percent taking Detrol LA.

"I think we can say our product is better than Detrol, particularly in terms of dry mouth," Pyott said, as well as less likelihood of interacting with other drugs or causing neurological side effects such as blurred vision or dizziness.
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