Somaxon, Procter & Gamble agree to co-promote new insomnia drug Silenor

Somaxon, Procter & Gamble co-promote insomnia drug

SAN DIEGO — Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. will team with Procter & Gamble Co. to co-promote the insomnia treatment Silenor to thousands of doctors and pharmacies.

The companies will combine sales forces to target 35,000 of the highest insomnia products prescribers and 25,000 pharmacies. Somaxon, which is based in San Diego, said Wednesday it will focus on specialists who treat insomnia.

P&G, based in Cincinnati, will focus on primary-care doctors and other high-prescribing physicians. A total of 215 sales representatives will be used in the U.S.

Somaxon will pay P&G a combination of fixed fees and a royalty based on U.S. net sales. The agreement runs through the end of 2012 but is renewable.

The deal also gives P&G first crack at rights to develop and market Silenor as an over-the-counter medication. P&G sold its prescription drug business a year ago to Warner Chilcott PLC for $3.1 billion and said it would focus on nonprescription medicines such as Vicks and Prilosec.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Somaxon’s Silenor in March to treat short-term and long-term insomnia. Silenor is a low-dose oral tablet form of doxepin, which has been prescribed as a depression and anxiety treatment.

(This version corrects the spelling of Procter & Gamble.)