U.S. FDA approves Bristol-Myers MS drug, coronavirus to delay launch

[March 26, 2020]  (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, Zeposia, but its launch will be delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the drugmaker said.

The company added it would continue to monitor the outbreak and partner with the neurology community to inform about the launch timing.

The drug, also known as ozanimod, is one of the key treatments behind the U.S. drugmaker's $74 billion acquisition of Celgene last year.

The approval has brought the company into a highly lucrative market where rivals have recorded blockbuster sales.

Novartis AG's Gilenya brought in sales of over $2 billion in 2019, while the Swiss pharma major's new MS treatment, Mayzvent, recorded sales of $17 million in the first quarter of its launch.

The company said the drug was approved for treating relapsing forms of MS.

Multiple sclerosis, which affects about 400,000 people in the United States, is a disease in which the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath that covers the nerves.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

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