Somerset, NJ and Rochester, NY – December 7, 2004 – MedPointe Pharmaceuticals announced today that its expanded sales force will now have sole responsibility for promoting MedPointe’s OPTIVAR® (azelastine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 0.05%) to the ophthalmic/eye-care community starting January 1, 2005. Bausch & Lomb, a global leader in eye health, had provided sales support for OPTIVAR after MedPointe acquired the medication in the second quarter of 2003. Since then, MedPointe has doubled its overall sales force in Primary Care and, most recently, expanded its Allergy Specialty sales force by 33 percent.
OPTIVAR is a sterile ophthalmic solution indicated for the treatment of itching of the eye associated with allergic conjunctivitis.
“While Bausch & Lomb has provided MedPointe with support in promoting OPTIVAR to eye-care specialists, we now have the resources and the capability to cover this important physician segment with the recent expansions of our Specialty Allergy and Primary Care field forces,” said Paul Edick, president of MedPointe. “We are committed to calling on selected ophthalmologists who treat allergic conjunctivitis patients, as well as the allergy, primary care, and ear, nose and throat specialists whom we normally see. The expansion of our allergy sales force to cover more eye-care physicians reaffirms our belief that OPTIVAR has great market potential, given its ability to target both the early- and late-phase allergic response in the eye.”
Paul G. Howes, Bausch & Lomb senior vice president and president of the Americas Region, said, “With the anticipated approval of new products in our own portfolio and a strategic review of our marketing priorities, Bausch & Lomb will focus on our own products. We wish MedPointe continued success with OPTIVAR.”
ABOUT OPTIVAR
OPTIVAR (azelastine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution, 0.05%) is a sterile ophthalmic solution indicated for the treatment of itching of the eye associated with allergic conjunctivitis in patients as young as 3 years of age. In controlled, multidose studies, the most frequently reported adverse events were transient eye burning/stinging, headache, and bitter taste. Discontinuation due to these adverse events was less than 1 percent. OPTIVAR is contraindicated in persons with known hypersensitivity to any of its components.
MEDPOINTE PHARMACEUTICALS
MedPointe Pharmaceuticals is a privately held, specialty pharmaceutical company located at 265 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, New Jersey, 08873-4120; 732-564-2200. MedPointe specializes in respiratory, allergy, central nervous system, cough-cold, and pediatric products. The company maintains a manufacturing facility in Decatur, Illinois. For more information on MedPointe, visit www.medpointepharma.com
For additional information and/or full Prescribing Information for OPTIVAR®, please call 1-800-598-4856.
BAUSCH & LOMB
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company, dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical, and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Celebrating its 150th anniversary, the Company is headquartered in Rochester, New York. Bausch & Lomb’s 2003 revenues were $2 billion; it employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide and its products are available in more than 100 countries. More information about the Company can be found on the Bausch & Lomb Web site at www.bausch.com. Copyright Bausch & Lomb.