Biogen Rises on Optimism MS Pill May Get EU Protection

Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB), the worlds biggest maker of multiple sclerosis drugs, surged the most in 20 months on investor optimism that the companys Tecfidera pill may gain protection from generic-drug competition in Europe.

Biogen climbed 4.8 percent to $218.85 at 12:59 p.m. New York time, after increasing 16 percent in its biggest intraday gain since October 2011. European regulators may rule later this year on whether to approve Tecfidera, already cleared in the U.S., the Weston, Massachusetts-based company said in May.

The European Medicines Agencys Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use today granted new active substance status to Sanofis MS treatment Aubagio, which protects the medicine from generic competition for 10 years. The ruling may help Biogen gain protection for Tecfidera as well, said Brian Abrahams, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co. in New York.

The Sanofi ruling shows the European regulator is open to a sponsors arguments that a new drug should merit some regulatory exclusivity, Abrahams said in a note. We see this as an indirect, incremental positive.

Tecfidera was approved in the U.S. in March. Biogen has asked the European regulator for exclusivity under a process referred to as the independent development principle, Abrahams said. On May 30, Biogen said a European regulatory decision on its pill would be delayed until the second half of this year while the company seeks clarity of the drugs exclusivity.

The new status for Aubagio also reduces the chance that a generic medicine will contribute to price erosion in the European market for MS therapies, Abrahams said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Camille Izlar in at mizlar@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

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Biogen Rises on Optimism MS Pill May Get EU Protection