ZURICH, Aug 17 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have approved Novartis's multiple sclerosis (MS) medicine Extavia, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday.
Novartis is expanding into MS medicines, and the group also aims to file another MS drug, FTY720, one of the biggest hopes in its pipeline, for approval in Europe and the United States by the end of the year, its drugs chief Joe Jimenez told Reuters.
"MS is a horrible disease, and over 2 million are affected," Jimenez said in a phone interview. "There is a high level of unmet medical need."
Germany's Merck KGaA has moved ahead of FTY720 in the bid to bring the first oral treatment against the nervous disease to market, having already filed for European approval of MS pill cladribine.
Extavia is Novartis's branded version of Bayer's Betaseron, a first-line disease-modifying therapy injected every other day for the treatment of MS.
Novartis and Bayer settled a dispute over Betaseron in a deal that gave Bayer full control of the product and allowed Novartis to launch a version in 2009.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Extavia for the treatment of relapsing forms of MS and for patients who have experienced a first attack and have features consistent with the disease.
Novartis does not expect Extavia to be a blockbuster, or billion dollar seller, but it helps build commercial experience in MS ahead of the potential launch of FTY720, Jimenez said.
Both drugs will help fill a looming sales gap for Novartis as its faces pending patent expiry on top-selling blood pressure medicine Diovan, he added.

(Reporting by Sam Cage, editing by Will Waterman) Keywords: NOVARTIS/EXTAVIA (zurich.newsroom@reuters.com; +41 (0)58 306 7457; Reuters Messaging: sam.cage.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.