Vervolgbericht :
March 26 (Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY.N said on
Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its
multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, Zeposia, but the launch would
be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The drug, also known as ozanimod, was added to the U.S.
drugmaker's portfolio through its $74 billion acquisition of
Celgene last year and its approval was one of the three
conditions set for a potentially higher payout for Celgene
investors.
Celgene shareholders, as part of the deal, had received a
"contingent value right" worth $9 per share if three
high-profile drugs in the company's pipeline got U.S. approvals
by March 2021.
Despite the delay, the approval brings the company into a
highly lucrative market where rivals have recorded blockbuster
sales.
Novartis AG's Gilenya brought in sales of over $2
billion in 2019, while the Swiss pharma major's new MS
treatment, Mayzent, recorded sales of $17 million in the first
quarter of its launch.
Bristol-Myers' drug is approved to treat relapsing forms of
multiple sclerosis that are characterized by attacks where
neurological function worsens.
Multiple sclerosis, which affects nearly 1 million people in
the United States, is a potentially disabling disease in which
the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath that
covers the nerves.
The drug helps reduce the migration of lymphocytes, or white
blood cells, to the brain and the spinal cord, which the company
says might be the likely reason for its therapeutic affect.
However, the exact mechanism of the drug is unknown.
The approval comes when sales of Bristol-Myers' most
important growth driver, cancer drug Opdivo, appear to have
slowed, under pressure from Merck & Co Inc's MRK.N Keytruda.
Sales of Opdivo have hovered around the $2 billion mark for
most of last year but slipped to $1.76 billion in the latest
reported quarter.
Through the Celgene deal, Bristol-Myers also has access to
the company's cash cow, Revlimid, which faces patent expiration
in the United States in 2027.
A company spokeswoman told Reuters that Bristol-Myers would
finalize the price of the drug when it is launched.
Shares of the company were up marginally higher at $49 in
trading before the bell.