Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Biogen says patient death unlikely linked to new MS drug

Mon Jul 22, 2013 4:07pm EDT

(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)


Source : http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/healthNews/~3/oOI8R7kQvs8/story01.htm

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