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 Shares of the San Diego-based company were up about 18.5 percent to
$49.15 after the closing bell on Tuesday.
The drug, Ingrezza, is the first treatment to be approved for the
irreversible disorder, which occurs in 5 percent to 8 percent of
patients taking antipsychotic drugs. Ingrezza is the company's first
commercial product.
Neurocrine said the drug, which is expected to launch in May, will
be priced competitively. Last year, it said Ingrezza would be listed
at a net price of between $20,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on
the required dosage.
Wall Street analysts, on average, forecast annual sales for the drug
of around $700 million by 2023, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Ingrezza, or valbenazine, is designed to block a protein found in
the brain that helps regulate the amount of dopamine released into
nerve cells. Antipsychotic drugs are designed to block dopamine
receptors, but in some patients the signal gets amped up and more
dopamine is released in a region of the brain that controls
movement.
Around 500,000 Americans suffer from tardive dyskinesia, Neurocrine
Biosciences Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gorman said in an
interview.
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He estimated that, at best, around 100,000 of them would be treated
with Ingrezza, but a more realistic level would be around 50,000.
Last week, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's drug to treat chorea
associated with Huntington's disease was approved by the FDA.
Teva is expecting the U.S. regulator's decision on the tardive
dyskinesia indication by August.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley; editing by Jonathan Oatis, G Crosse)
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