Amarin expects good results from final tests of Omega-3 drug

Amarin Corp, a company developing a treatment to reduce fats in the blood, expects positive results early next year from a trial of the drug, the company’s only medicine in late-stage testing. Amarin, based in Mystic, Connecticut, and Dublin, designed trials of the fat-lowering drug in “close agreement” with the US Food and Drug Administration, and aims to file for approval in 2012, Chief Medical Officer Declan Doogan said in an interview. The treatment, dubbed AMR101, is aimed at lowering triglycerides, a type of fat that can lead to heart disease when found in the blood at high levels. AMR101 is an omega-3 fatty acid sourced from certain fish oils and would compete with GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Lovaza, the only omega-3 prescription drug approved in the US The Amarin drug will have a competitive advantage over Glaxo’s Lovaza, which generated sales of £450 million ($693 million) for the UK company last year, Chief Executive Officer Colin Stewart said in an interview. A patient will need to take fewer pills, and Amarin’s don’t have a “fishy taste,” he said.