Roche's bid to catch up in SMA gets a boost

Most of the talk about spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) at the moment focuses on Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX), which is nearing market with its gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi).

US biotech Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) has the only approved treatment on the market at the moment with Spinraza (nusinersen), but it is not a one-time infusion like the Novartis option.

Now another Swiss company, Roche (ROG: SIX), is confident on a 2019 approval with its oral option, risdiplam, having strengthened its data set around the therapy with a presentation at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.