Sunovion


Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., known until October 12, 2010 as Sepracor, Inc. prior to its acquisition by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma of Japan, is a pharmaceutical company founded in 1984 by Timothy J. Barberich, Steve Matson, and Bob Bratzler. It was originally located in Princeton, New Jersey and then re-located to Marlborough, Massachusetts. In addition to its headquarters location in Marlborough, Massachusetts, Sunovion has locations in London, England, Mississauga, Ontario Canada, and Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Company history

The company's initial focus was on the development of single isomers and active metabolites. Sepracor's products were focused on the treatment of central nervous system and respiratory disorders, under the direction of Gunnar Aberg, and John McCullough. The primary source of its revenue was the approximately $600 million annually from its Xopenex franchise of drugs. The insomnia drug Lunesta was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in December 2004, and launched in April 2005. On February 13, 2006, Sepracor filed a new drug application for Brovana to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In September 2016, the company announced it would acquire Cynapsus Therapeutics for approximately $624 million. Through the deal, Sunovion would acquire Cynapsus’ Phase III Parkinson's disease candidate drug APL-130277.

Acquisition by Dainippon Sumitomo

A formal announcement of the acquisition was made on October 12, 2010, which stated that Sunovion would be an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd.

Beneficiaries, partners, and subsidiaries

Eslicarbazepine acetate

In 2008, Bial agreed with Sepracor that its antiepileptic eslicarbazepine acetate would be produced in Sepracor's facilities and supervised by Bial.