Singapore: Novartis pointed out that a patient
taking its multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Gilenya for the past seven
months developed a rare and potentially fatal viral disease called
progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Gilenya is one of
Novartis' latest blockbuster drugs, growing 66 percent in the second
quarter to $468 million. Novartis is working with the reporting
physician to understand all possible contributing factors, including
those beyond treatment, given several atypical features of the case.
Novartis revealed that all previously reported cases of PML among the
71,000 patients treated with Gilenya so far had been attributed to prior
treatment with Biogen Idec's Tysabri, which is the major competitor of
the Novartis drug. Novartis said in a statement that, "The course of the
underlying neurological disease was rapid with some atypical findings
for MS on the MRI scans of the brain and spinal cord, as well as some
unusual clinical features."
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