Novartis’s Mayzent approved to treat progressive multiple sclerosis
Mayzent, with a US list price of $88,500, is the first treatment approved for patients with secondary progressive MS in more than 15 years
London — Novartis, the Swiss drug maker, is seeking to reach as many as 250,000 US patients with an advanced and debilitating form of multiple sclerosis, after regulators cleared its new medicine, Mayzent. The drug was approved to treat secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which afflicts about 100,000 people in the US, said Paul Hudson, head of the Basel, Switzerland-based company’s pharmaceutical business. An additional 150,000 patients might also be candidates for the therapy, as eight out of 10 of people with the more common type of multiple sclerosis, known as relapsing-remitting, will see their disease worsen into the severe form, he said Wednesday. “There hasn’t really been anything credible to treat these patients with,” Hudson said in a telephone interview. “It’s a big opportunity, but it’s going to require some education.” Mayzent, with a US list price of $88,500, is the first treatment approved for patients with the secondary form of the disease in more than 15 years....
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