Valeant Pharmaceuticals International announced that it has granted Ascend Therapeutics exclusive rights to deploy Ascend's 50-person specialty sales force to promote Valeant's Migranal (dihydroergotamine mesylate, USP) nasal spray to more than 5,500 OB/GYNs in the United States.

Valeant will continue to market Migranal to physicians outside the OB/GYN specialty area and retain all other responsibilities for the product.

"We are pleased to announce the promotion of Migranal to OB/GYNs with our partner Ascend Therapeutics. Of the more than 65 million people worldwide who have experienced a migraine within the last 12 months, three-quarters of these patients are women. Migranal provides physicians with a valuable treatment option for patients with migraine headaches," said, Wesley P. Wheeler, president, North America and Research and Development, Valeant.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to promote a therapeutic option to treat a condition so common among women often in the early morning hours or during times of falling estrogen levels. Migranal provides significant value to women and to our women's health care franchise and will be integral as we continue to build and foster our specialty in the OB/GYN community," said Jay Bua, president, Ascend Therapeutics.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is a global specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of pharmaceutical products primarily in the areas of neurology, infectious disease, and dermatology.

Ascend Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the use of transdermal drug delivery technology to overcome therapeutic barriers and raise the standard of care for certain chronic conditions.

Migranal Nasal Spray is indicated for the acute treatment of migraine headaches with or without aura. Migranal Nasal Spray is not intended for the prophylactic therapy of migraine or for the management of hemiplegic or basilar migraine.