Alza Taps UCB to Help Sell Drug

Alza Corp. more than doubled the sales force it will use to promote a new incontinence drug it hopes will win U.S. approval by year-end, as it challenges its bigger rival, Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. Palo Alto-based Alza, the largest U.S. maker of controlled-release drugs, hired a unit of UCB, the Belgian drug and chemicals group, to deploy 335 sales representatives to market the drug to primary-care physicians. That’s in addition to a force of 280 that Alza previously recruited to promote Ditropan XL with health-care professionals. Pharmacia & Upjohn makes Detrol, which won Food and Drug Administration approval in March. If Alza’s drug is approved, the two will vie for sales in the U.S. market that could exceed $500 million a year. In NYSE trading, Alza shares rose $1.38 to close at $37.38; P&U; shares rose 50 cents to $45.