Ariad gets early FDA approval for leukemia drug

(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted earlier-than-expected approval to Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc's drug for two rares types of leukemia, but is requiring that patients be warned of potential side effects, sending the company's shares down nearly 20 percent.

The drug, given the brand name Iclusig, was approved three months ahead of time under the FDA's accelerated program for earlier access to promising new drugs.

The FDA is requiring a so-called "blackbox" on the drug's label warning of the potential for arterial thrombotic events and liver toxicity, according to Ariad.

"While the blackbox warning may impact the pace of adoption initially in the community setting, we expect high volume academic centers to quickly look past the warning," BMO Capital Markets analyst Jim Birchenough said in a research note.

The approval covers use of the drug, also known as ponatinib, to treat chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, two types of rare blood and bone marrow cancers, in patients who had been treated with older drugs.

"We would be buyers of Ariad into the 2013 Iclusig launch," Guggenheim analyst Bret Holley said in a research note.

He forecast a relatively rapid uptake of the drug in earlier treatment of CML and a good possibility of positive results from an ongoing trial of the drug as an initial treatment for the targeted diseases.

Ponatinib was granted orphan product status for drugs that treat rare diseases. The status grants the drugmaker marketing exclusivity for seven years in the United States.

Iclusig is designed to block an abnormal protein that stimulates the development of the two rare types of leukemia.

Aria shares, which have gained nearly 70 percent so far this year, were down $4.86 at $19.01 in late afternoon trading on Nasdaq.

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Ariad gets early FDA approval for leukemia drug