(Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator on Wednesday approved TG Therapeutics Inc’s drug for patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, pitting it against rivals from Roche and Novartis.
The New York-based company’s shares rose nearly 9% in afternoon trade.
TG Therapeutics did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for details on the pricing and availability of the drug.
The drug, ublituximab, to be branded as Briumvi, is the third from its class to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis after Roche’s Ocrevus and Novartis AG’s Kesimpta.
At least two analysts ahead of the approval had expected Briumvi to cost less than existing drugs in the same class of treatments, which are priced between $65,000 and $83,000 annually.
The approval of TG’s first commercial product comes at a time when the company announced cost-cut plans following the withdrawal of its lymphatic cancer drug earlier this year.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy, Khushi Mandowara and Raghav Mahobe in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Shailesh Kuber)
