Sepracor Q1 revenue boosted to $285.7 million by Lunesta sales

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, April 25 - Sepracor Inc. said its revenue increased by 140% to $285.7 million for the quarter ended March 31 from $119 million for the first quarter of 2005.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2006 includes $138.1 million of sales of Lunesta (eszopiclone) for the treatment of insomnia, according to a company news release.

Net income increased to $10.3 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the first quarter from a net loss of $22.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2005.

Reported results for the first quarter of 2006 included charges of $9.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for stock-based compensation due to Sepracor's adoption of SFAS No. 123R.

As of March 31, Sepracor had $960 million of cash and investments.

Lunesta studies

The company also announced preliminary results from two studies of Lunesta.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover study found no statistically significant difference in the primary endpoint of on-the-road brake reaction time in patients that received Lunesta and the group that received placebo, according to the release.

The primary objective of the study was to assess next-day, on-the-road brake reaction time in 31 subjects who were administered either Lunesta 3 mg or a placebo the evening before.

Additionally, an open-label, multi-center trial of 2,600 adult patients found that 2 to 2.5 times as many patients were "extremely satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Lunesta therapy as compared with their previous sleep aid on parameters such as ability to fall asleep quickly and ability to sleep through the night.

The primary objective of this study was to assess patient satisfaction. Patients completed questionnaires and then returned to the office two weeks after using Lunesta, at which time they completed questionnaires to evaluate satisfaction.

The company said that among study participants, the most commonly used previous therapies were Ambien (zolpidem tartrate), other prescription insomnia medications and trazodone, an antidepressant commonly prescribed off-label to treat patients with insomnia.

This study will be presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which will be held June 17 to 22 in Salt Lake City.

Sepracor is a research-based pharmaceutical company located in Marlborough, Mass.

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