Novartis AG (NVS) 7/12/16
83.21+1.22 (+1.49 %)
At close: 4:02PM EDT
84.45 1.24 (+1.49 %)
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I got in in a big way at 83.21 as of February. Novartis has approval for several new drugs that promise to be major blockbusters. Today's news:
F.D.A. Panel Recommends Approval for Gene-Altering Leukemia Treatment
By DENISE GRADY JULY 12, 2017
A Food and Drug Administration panel opened a new era in medicine on Wednesday, unanimously recommending that the agency approve the first treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own cells to fight leukemia, transforming them into what scientists call “a living drug” that powerfully bolsters the immune system to shut down the disease.
If the F.D.A. accepts the recommendation, which is likely, the treatment will be the first gene therapy to reach the market. Others are expected: Researchers and drug companies have been engaged in intense competition for decades to reach this milestone. Novartis is now poised to be the first, and it is working on similar types of treatments for another type of leukemia, as well as multiple myeloma and an aggressive brain tumor.
To use the technique, a separate treatment must be created for each patient — their cells removed at an approved medical center, frozen, shipped to a Novartis plant for thawing and processing, frozen again and shipped back to the treatment center. A single dose of the resulting product has brought long remissions, and possibly cures, to scores of patients in studies who faced death because every other treatment had failed. The panel recommended approving the treatment for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has resisted treatment, or relapsed, in children and young adults ages 3 to 25.
</snip> Read the rest here: nytimes.com |
