Teva’s Laquinimod MS Pill Fails to Win EU Agency Backing
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. failed to win backing from the European Union drug regulator for a new multiple sclerosis pill, hurting the company’s effort to introduce a successor to its best-selling injection Copaxone.
The drug, laquinimod, shouldn’t be granted marketing approval in the EU, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use said in a statement today. The panel was concerned that animal studies showed a higher occurrence of cancers and possible risk to unborn babies, the agency said. The product would have competed against oral medicines from Biogen Idec Inc., Novartis AG and Sanofi.