Monday, July 22, 2013
Biogen investigates death of patient who took MS drug Tecfidera
(Reuters) - Biogen Idec Inc is investigating the death of a patient who had taken its new multiple sclerosis drug, Tecfidera, the company said on Monday.
Biogen spokeswoman Kate Niazi-Sai said early indications suggest the death is unlikely to be related to the drug, but she did not immediately have further details.
"We are actively investigating to get a full understanding of what caused the death," she said. "The patient was not on Tecfidera at the time of death."
Tecfidera, which is widely expected to become the No. 1 oral treatment for the disease, with annual sales of more than $3 billion, was launched in April.
The death was first reported by BioPharm Insight, and briefly sent the company's shares down more than 3 percent before they rebounded to trade 0.3 percent higher at $231.07 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.
"I see this as a non-issue," Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst at ISI Group, told clients in an email. "Please chillax."
(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington. Editing by Andre Grenon)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: 'You Say What You Like, Because They Like What You Say' - http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/alerts-2013/731-you-say-what-you-like-because-they-like-what-you-say.html
