Is Teva acting in the best interests of MSers?

In response to our post yesterday and the associated "quick and dirty poll" (both below) we have the following results: 




"This result is remarkable for two reasons; firstly, it normally takes us more than a week to get over a 100 responses and secondly we have never had such a one sided result. Dog house seems to be the correct adjective in this case!"

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Yesterday's post and survey

"Teva,the producer of glatiramer acetate, has asked the FDA not to approve BG-12, citing safety concerns. Teva filed a citizen’s petition requesting that the FDA refrain from approving any new drug for the treatment of MS until the FDA has considered the recommendations of the appropriate expert advisory committee. No meeting of the FDA's Advisory Committee for BG-12 is planned. Importantly, no Advisory Committee was needed for teriflunomide, which has recently been licensed. So why Teva's change of mind? Do they have MSers interests at heart?"

"A form of BG-12 called fumaderm has been used in psoriasis for many years with no major adverse events emerging. I assume the FDA has looked at fumaderm's long-term safety profile and the BG-12 MS data and felt an Advisory Committee is not needed."

Press releases with more details

Kevin Grogan. Teva tries to foil approval of Biogen MS pill. Pharma Times, January 11, 2013.

John Carroll. Teva tries to slow arrival of Biogen's competing MS blockbuster. Fiercebiotech January 10, 2013. 




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