Niin/Raisio

Joku Novartista seuraava ennustaa Staveloa myytävän jenkeissä näin. Olettaisin, että Euroopassa ollaan samoissa lukemissa. Joten tässä luettavaa.
Source : Bank Sarasin & Co.

Stalevo (carbidopa/ levodopa/ entacapone) revceives FDA approval

A triple combination therapy for Parkinson’s disease

Novartis has marketed Comtan (entacapone) in the US since 1999 for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Comtan was in-licensed from the Finnish Orion Oyi; Novartis is responsible for the market-ing and distribution of the drug while Orion is the manufacturer. Comtan generated worldwide sales of CHF 130m in 2002 and we believe that Novartis might not have been satisfied with its per-formance because the drug suffered from doubts concerning the side effects of the drug class (COMT-inhibitors). We believe that with the US marketing approval of Stalevo, which was filed last Au-gust in the US, the triple combination therapy will bring a bit more dynamics into Novartis Parkinson’s franchise, although our expec-tations are moderate. Our model forecasts combined sales of USD 250m by 2007E.

Stalevo is manufactured by Orion and marketed by Novartis. In Europe the EMEA is currently reviewing Stalevo with marketing approval expected in the second half of 2003E.

Parkinson’s disease

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease available today and cur-rent treatment options can only lower symptoms or slow the pro-gress of the disease. The cause of Parkinson’s disease is un-known. The condition affects more than 1% of the people older than 65 years. In the US there is an estimated number of one mil-lion patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.