Biogen Idec shares soar on MS drug news

NEW YORK - Shares of Biogen Idec jumped as much as 19 per cent on Wednesday (NY time) after the company said it would file for US approval of its experimental multiple sclerosis drug a year earlier than expected.

Biogen Idec, which is developing the drug, Antegren, with a partner, Elan Corp. of Ireland, is counting on Antegren to offset flagging sales of its existing multiple sclerosis drug Avonex.

If approved, Antegren could reach the market in 2005 rather than 2006 as previously scheduled. The decision to file early was based on an examination of one-year data from a two-year clinical trial, implying that the data is strong.

The decision to file early was sanctioned by the US Food and Drug Administration.

"We continue to believe Antegren represents a blockbuster opportunity," Jennifer Chao, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a research report. "Antegren potentially represents a major treatment alternative to multiple sclerosis sufferers."

Antegren works by selectively inhibiting immune cells from leaving the bloodstream and preventing them from migrating into chronically inflamed tissue. In patients with multiple sclerosis, something, possibly a virus, causes the body to react against its own tissue, resulting in inflammation and destruction of the myelin sheaths that protect nerve fibres.

The market for multiple sclerosis drugs is hotly contested by Biogen Idec, Germany's Schering AG, Serono SA of Switzerland and Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Biogen Idec shares rose US$7.32 to US$51.65 in mid-morning trading on Nasdaq. Earlier they rose as high as US$52.70.

- REUTERS