US FDA approves Roche's Actemra for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Genentech, part of Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX), says the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Actemra (tocilizumab) for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) in patients two years of age and older. Actemra can be given alone or in combination with methotrexate in patients with SJIA.

Actemra is the first medicine approved by the FDA for the treatment of SJIA, a rare and severe form of arthritis affecting children. SJIA has the worst long-term prognosis of all types of childhood arthritis. Also sold as RoActemra, the drug is already approved for moderate or severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adults, and saw a whopping 177% year-on-year rise in 2010 sales to 397 million francs ($435.7 million).

New option for difficult to treat disease