Novartis launches Extavia in Europe
pharmafile | January 28, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Extavia, MS
Novartis has launched its new multiple sclerosis injection Extavia in Europe and hopes this will lay the groundwork for an oral MS treatment it has in development.
Fingolimod is an innovative pill-form alternative to Extavia that the company anticipates will be ready for a 2010 launch.
Trevor Mundel, the global head of development at Novartis, says Extavia's launch demonstrates its long-term commitment to the MS community.
He added: "This important first step also opens the way for Novartis to build supportive partnerships with the MS community and lays the foundations for providing innovative approaches to MS care."
Extavia is a branded version of Bayer's Betaferon (interferon beta-1b), a standard treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis in the same class as Biogen's Avonex and Merck Serono's Rebif.
But fingolimod, which is still in phase III clinical development, could offer advantages over these established therapies as a novel, once-daily oral MS treatment.
Novartis is not the only company chasing this opportunity – Merck Serono's oral treatment cladribine could be on track for a mid-2009 filing after the recent release of encouraging new data.
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