Marketing: Gilenya's uptake

Even though Gilenya fingolimod from Novartis AG is The first oral drug approved to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, the sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor agonist isn't likely to immediately supplant injectables in the front-line setting, including interferons and Copaxone glatiramer. Instead, physicians contacted by BioCentury plan to wait and see how Gilenya's safety signals play out in the larger MS population.

In the meantime, the drug will provide a second-line alternative for patients who cannot tolerate or do not respond to other MS drugs. Gilenya is expected to have an immediate knock-on effect on use of Tysabri natalizumab, a humanized mAb against integrin alpha(4) (VLA-4; CD49D) from Biogen Idec Inc. that is now likely to be bumped to third-line from second-line therapy...