Amarin raises sales guidance for heart drug Vascepa, hires more sales reps for larger marketing push

Amarin (AMRN) pre-announced record quarterly sales of its heart drug Vascepa on Tuesday and raised its financial guidance for the remainder of the year, citing strong patient demand for the drug, derived from fish oil, now that it has been shown to significantly lower the risk of death and other adverse cardiovascular events.

The Bedminster, New Jersey-based drug maker is also doubling the size of its commercial salesforce to prepare for the highly expected expansion of Vascepa’s label by the Food and Drug Administration in late September, the company said.