This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

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Easier to read version of the above research. Doesn't look like a blockbuster to me given FTY720, which is another oral drug.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?j544029392&w=464753

Biogen so liked the product they bought the company! They now have control over Avonex, Tysabri, oral fumarate, Daclizumab and Rituxan.

http://www.biogenidec.com/site/019_0.ht ... PR_129.htm

This may not be such a bad thing. As a company they will not be marketing just one treatment for MS as the ONLY treatment. When the drug reps talk to the docs they will give them pros/cons of each treatment and the docs will be able to see advantages for different patients. They will cross-market these drugs to obtain more market share so the docs will hear the message more than once. This is a case of Biogen not putting "all of their eggs in one basket", knowing that different treatments work for different patients. Therefore, more choices for patients. Just a thought!

Lori

Lori,

I agree with you. It's suddenly become a more competitive market - the CRABs have had it pretty easy for the last decade.

Biogen are doing what other companies do in other sectors - buying up promising products or indeed promising companies. There should be more choice as long as the trials provide robust data. The CRABs were the first treatments for this disease and have had their day. The companies have done well out of them and it's time to raise the bar in terms of efficacy.

It wouldn't surprise me if companies such as Biogen bought up products such as Tovaxin and NeuroVax. The bigger companies would have the finances to conduct the trials etc. Innovation often comes from the smaller companies.

Ian

Or they could be buying smaller companies on the verge of promising treatments as a way to squash them before they cannibalize the markets of existing drugs.