Novartis Multiple sclerosis drug Extavia cleared by US FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Extavia (interferon beta-1b), the first in a new planned portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) medicines from Novartis to help patients manage this devastating disease.

Extavia, acquired by the Swiss firm as part of its purchase of Chiron in 2005, is approved by the FDA for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations. The therapy is also indicated for patients who have experienced a first clinical episode of MS and have features consistent with the disease as shown by magnetic resonance imaging. The drug was cleared for marketing in the European Union in May 2005.

The same medicinal product as Betaseron (interferon beta 1), which Germany's Bayer agreed could be sold under a different name by Novartis, Extavia offers patients and physicians a new branded version of a first-line disease-modifying therapy that has been a standard-of-care for MS in the USA for more than 16 years. Extavia will be marketed by the Pharmaceuticals Division of Novartis.