On Thursday April 21, 2011, 12:49 pm EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. rocketed to an all-time high Thursday after the company said its oral multiple sclerosis drug candidate BG-12 cut relapses of the disease in half after two years of treatment.
THE SPARK: Biogen Idec said patients who took BG-12, or dimethyl fumarate, twice a day were 49 percent less likely to have a relapse after two years than patients who took a placebo. The company said the annual relapse rate for the twice-per-day patients was 53 percent less than the placebo group, and disease progression was reduced by 38 percent. It also said patients who took the drug had fewer brain and spinal cord lesions associated with the disease.
Biogen Idec said earlier this month that the drug met its primary goals in the study but did not announce the extent of the effects. The company also said BG-12 may have patent protection until 2020 in the U.S. and 2019 in the European Union.
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