Movement in the MS drug market

SeekingAlpha talked about the price drop in Biogen shares


Its EVP of sales has resigned suddenly with no successor, and a competitor unveiled strong data on its late-stage pipeline candidate, ocrelizumab.




link: http://seekingalpha.com/article/3568226-biogen-drops-again-a-reassessment-of-the-bull-and-bear-investment-cases

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One notes the general downward trend was seemingly NOT influenced by the IPR petition by Kyle Bass on Tecfidera, which petition ultimately was not granted.

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On October 9, 2015, the Daily Mail noted:


Described as a game changer' by scientists, ocrelizumab is the first drug shown to slow the progression of the disease for the 10 per cent of MS patients with a form known as primary progressive'.

And for those with another form called relapsing MS - which affects around 85 per cent of patients - it is nearly 50 per cent more effective than existing treatments.

(...)

The results from the trial were presented last night at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis conference in Barcelona. Professor Gavin Giovannoni of Barts Hospital in London, commenting on the results, said the drug was a game changer'. These data demonstrate that B-cell targeting can significantly modify the disease,' he said.

Drugs giant Roche, which makes the treatment, plans to submit a licensing application to the European Medicines Agency next year.

If it is approved as safe, and the UK health service then agrees to fund it, patients could get it on the NHS as soon as 2017.



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BMI Research had written on July 1, 2015:


A significant unmet medical need remains in the treatment of progressive MS, which is thought to represent a multi-billion dollar market opportunity. Results from a Phase III study of ocrelizumab in people with primary progressive MS are expected later this year; success and approval in progressive MS alone would ensure blockbuster sales.



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The compound ocrelizumab is mentioned in 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14802

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