Elan's MS treatment listed as possibly harmful
ELAN'S Multiple Sclerosis treatment, Tysabri, has been added to a Federal Drug Administration (FDA) list of drugs currently being used by consumers, but are under review for potential safety issues.
The list, which has been published for the first time, names Tysabri as potentially being associated with skin cancer. While medical journals have reported cases of melanoma in patients taking the drug, the FDA has previously said it was investigating the drug for this side effect.
From now on, the FDA will begin posting a list of drugs whose safety is under investigation, every three months if complaints are brought to the agency's attention by drug companies, doctors and patients.
The present list contains 20 drugs, along with the potential safety issue of each drug, from drug companies like Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson.
Elan and its Tysabri research partner Biogen Idec, said at the end of July that two people taking Tysabri as a sole medicine for MS developed a rare brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML.
Biogen Idec and Elan launched Tysabri in 2004, but pulled it from the market after just a few months, when some patients were diagnosed with PML; two of them later died. The companies reintroduced Tysabri two years ago with stricter prescription guidelines and prominent warnings about the PML potential.
- Ailish O'Hora
