Three may be company, but when competitors are threatening to steal patients away from your first two, three's a welcome addition.
Biogen Idec
Biogen currently sells Avonex and co-markets Tysabri with Elan
There's plenty of competition from other injectable multiple sclerosis drugs, but the real threat comes from Novartis
From the other end, sanofi-aventis
Can BG-12 rescue Biogen? Maybe.
The fact that it's taken orally should help, but we'll need to see the full data before we can see how it compares to Gilenya and laquinimod. Even then, it'll be somewhat difficult to declare a winner since the patients in the trial are different.
The true test will come later this year in a head-to-head trial against Teva's Copaxone, the top-selling multiple sclerosis drug in the world. If BG-12 can beat Copaxone, or work as well with fewer side effects, Biogen could have a third multiple sclerosis blockbuster on its hands.
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