"MS drug boosts Biogen Idec profit 50%" by Globe Staff And Wires | April 17, 2009
CAMBRIDGE - Biogen Idec Inc.'s first-quarter profit rose 50 percent, boosted by higher sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Avonex.
The biotechnology company earned $244 million, or 84 cents per share, compared with a profit of $163.1 million, or 54 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier, it reported yesterday. Revenue rose 10 percent, to $1.04 billion.
Avonex sales again drove the results, gaining 4 percent to reach $555 million, while Tysabri sales rose 44 percent, to $165.2 million. Biogen sells Tysabri, another MS treatment, through a partnership with Ireland-based Elan Corp.
The companies reported four cases of a rare brain infection in patients in 2008. Concerns about the disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, caused Tysabri to be pulled from the market in 2005. It was reintroduced in 2006, with restrictions.
Yesterday, Biogen Idec said the Food and Drug Administration has approved its high-titer process for production of Tysabri. "We expect this new process to result in about a fourfold increase in yield," chief operating officer Bob Hamm said.
Biogen Idec noted that it received similar approval from the European Medicines Agency in December. At the end of March, about 40,000 patients were taking Tysabri worldwide, the company said.
Biogen's first-quarter revenue also included about $279 million from its partnership with Genentech on the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis drug Rituxan. Genentech is now part of Roche. Revenue growth "and continued advancement of our robust pipeline during the quarter were in line with our expectations," said chief executive James C. Mullen.
Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its outlook for profit....
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"Biogen Idec says sixth patient has brain disease" by Bloomberg News | April 18, 2009
Biogen Idec Inc. said a patient taking its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain illness, the sixth case reported since July.
The patient, who has MS, was confirmed to have progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, on Wednesday and had been taking the drug for 31 months, according to a report on Cambridge-based Biogen Idec's website. The patient lives outside the United States, according to the report.
That's enough of a long-term study for me. And what does where they live have to do with it?
Biogen Idec and marketing partner Elan Corp. pulled Tysabri from the market in 2005 after three patients, two of whom died, developed the brain infection. The Food and Drug Administration allowed sales to resume in July 2006 after deciding benefits for slowing MS relapses outweighed the risk. There were no reported infections for about two years after the drug's reintroduction....
As of the end of March, about 40,000 patients worldwide were on Tysabri, and about 56,700 patients have used the drug, according to Biogen Idec. The likelihood of getting PML from Tysabri is about 1 in 1,000, according to the drug's label.
Wow!!! Those are a little high, doncha think?
