MS treatment temporarily suspended

Biogen Idec and Elan have suspended sales of their multiple-sclerosis drug natalizumab (Tysabri) after two patients died from a rare disease of the central nervous system. At the time of the announcement on 28 February one person had died from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy after 2 years of therapy with Tysabri and interferon β-1a (Avonex; Biogen Idec), and another patient suspected of contracting the disease later died. Shares in both companies went into a tailspin on the day of the announcement. Biogen shares fell US$28.63, or nearly 43%, and Elan shares dropped US$18.90, or more than 70%. At least seven lawsuits seeking class-action status on behalf of shareholders have already been filed in federal courts against Biogen Idec and Elan. The lawsuits allege that the companies artificially inflated the value of their stocks by concealing the problems between 18 February, when the companies knew about the cases, and the date of the public announcement. Thomas Bucknum, a lawyer at Biogen, resigned after it was revealed that he sold 89,700 shares of Biogen Idec stock on 18 February.

Novartis becomes biggest generic manufacturer

Novartis has overtaken Teva Pharmaceuticals as the biggest generic-drug producer by agreeing to pay €5.65 billion (US$7.46 million) in cash to buy German firm Hexal and around two-thirds of the US-based company Eon Labs, offering to buy the remaining Eon shares. The deal expands the portfolio of the generic subsidiary of Novartis, Sandoz, to 600 products, generating $5.1 billion in annual sales, compared with Novartis' total sales of $28.25 billion last year. Global generics sales are around 10% of the estimated $450-billion global market for branded drugs, but are expected to grow at about 22% annually during the next 5 years, in contrast to less than 10% annually for branded-drug sales. Novartis' foray into the generics markets hasn't been followed by other large companies; only Sanofi–Aventis has shown an interest in generics through acquisition.

Treatments compete to lower cholesterol

A 5-year study involving 10,001 patients has shown that the highest dose of atorvastatin (Lipitor; Pfizer) significantly reduces the rate of heart attacks and strokes among people with stable heart disease (LaRosa, J. C. et al. NEJM published online 8 March 2005 (10.1056/NEJMoa 050461)). The results were presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Orlando, and reinforce many cardiologists' opinion that aggressive lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in stable coronary heart disease patients to <70 mg per dl – substantially below the current target in the US of <100 mg per dl – results in a better clinical outcome. In another presentation at the meeting, a 6-week head-to-head study of 1,902 people showed that the combination treatment simvastatin/ ezetimibe (Vytorin; Merck/Schering Plough) reduced LDL cholesterol levels even more than Lipitor. Vytorin reduced LDL cholesterol by 59%, compared with 49% for Lipitor, and 57% of high-risk patients taking Vytorin achieved an LDL level of <70 mg per dl, compared with 23% of Lipitor patients.