BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals jumped Friday after the company said it had won regulatory approval for two new formulations of its pain killer Opana.

ENDP30.01, 1.26, 4.4%) shares were up 5% at $30.29 midday, after hitting an earlier high of $32.09.
 
Early Friday, Endo said the Food and Drug Administration had approved extended-release and immediate-release formulations of Opana, known generically as oxymorphone hydrochloride. The drug belongs to a group of powerful pain killers called opioids that includes Oxycontin and morphine.
 
Endo said this is the first time an oxymorphone product will be available in an orally-administered, extended-release formulation. The drug is to be taken twice daily for moderate-to-severe pain.

The company said sales of long-acting, opiod pain relievers totaled $3.2 billion in 2005.

Endo also issued a new financial forecast, stating it now sees 2006 sales coming in between $880 million and $910 million, with combined sales of the new Opana formulations amounting to between $20 million and $30 million.

The company said that it plans to hire another 220 sales people, on top of its existing force of 370. It added that because of costs associated with the Opana product launch, it expects 2006 adjusted earnings to be reduced by about 20 cents a share, to a range of $1.55 to $1.60.

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By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch 
Val Brickates Kennedy is a reporter for MarketWatch in Boston.

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