Sepracor Asks FDA to Okay Epilepsy Drug

Marlborough, MA-based Sepracor (NASDAQ: [[ticker: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.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/