Elan expands sales force

DUBLIN, Ireland - Elan Corp. announced plans to add 50 new reps to its sales force in order to market its anticipated line of antiepilepsy products. The group will target neurologists and other physicians who specialize in the treatment of epilepsy.

Elan's current sales force of approximately 100 reps markets Diastat® and Carbatrol,® two other antiepilepsy medications. If the FDA approves a new product called Zonisamide, which recently completed Phase III trials in patients with refractory seizures, Elan will add it to the list of products the new reps will market through its subsidiary, Athena Neurosciences Inc.

"With these three products, we thought it was important to provide a focused effort in the area of epilepsy," said Eric Liebler, Athena's director of external relations. The company is acting quickly so that its sales force will have the sufficient capacity to handle the launches of three new products. "We expect them to be detailing physicians by the third or fourth quarter," Liebler said.

The company revealed its intention to expand it sales force only after it signed a licensing and distribution agreement with Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., the Japanese company that has manufactured and marketed Zonisamide in Japan since 1989. PR