Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group

We get more choices now & the acronym "CRAB" drugs won't work anymore.

Extavia is just another interferon 1b, a form of betaseron. I gess that will start bringing prices down. I read generics when they happen will bring the price down by 20%. That's not much in a $20,000/month med. $20,000/month down to $16,000/month. It's still expensive!!!
Extavia is not a generic drug. It is a branded copy by agreement with bayer.

Novartis Version of Bayer MS Drug Wins U.S. Approval (Update1)
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By Eva von Schaper

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Novartis AG won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell its Extavia multiple sclerosis treatment, its brand of Bayer AG’s Betaseron.

Extavia, a form of interferon beta-1b, can be used in patients with early and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis said in a statement today.

Selling the treatment is a strategic step that allows Novartis to establish itself in the multiple sclerosis community before introducing its potentially best-selling FTY720 MS pill. The company aims for at least $1 billion in sales for its multiple sclerosis franchise, Joe Jimenez, the head of Novartis’ drug unit, said in an interview before the approval. Novartis plans to set up a network of sales people, nurses, as well as support hotlines to help sell Extavia and “build our commercial capability,” Jimenez said.

Betaseron generated 301 million euros ($426 million) in sales for Bayer in the first quarter of this year. Jimenez declined to give a revenue target for Extavia, which was approved in the European Union last year.

Novartis gained rights to its own branded version of the medicine through its acquisition of Chiron Corp. in 2005, and in agreement with Bayer, who gained Betaseron with the 2006 purchase of Schering AG.

Bayer produces Extavia for Novartis and gets a “double- digit” percentage royalty from the Swiss drugmaker as part of an agreement between the companies at the time.

Bayer fell 48 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 41.69 euros as of 9:14 a.m. in Frankfurt trading. The stock has fallen less than 1 percent this year, compared with a 9 percent increase in the DAX Index of 30 biggest companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eva von Schaper in Munich at evonschaper@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 17, 2009 03:27 EDT

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Posted on 08/17/09, 12:08 pm