Genentech withdraws psoriasis drug over death risk
09 Apr 2009
Genentech is withdrawing its psoriasis drug from the market after it was found to increase the risk of a rare and usually fatal central nervous system disease.
The removal is effective immediately and physicians are being advised that they should not prescribe the treatment, Raptiva, for any new patients and should contact anyone who is currently using it.
It will not longer be available after June 8th and the company says this transition period is designed to allow sufferers to work with their doctors to appropriately discontinue using Raptiva, as psoriasis can worsen if they stop taking it abruptly.
"Although we believe that many psoriasis patients are benefiting from Raptiva, the balance between benefit and risk in the psoriasis population for which Raptiva was approved has significantly changed," says Dr Hal Barron, senior vice president of development and chief medical officer at Genentech.
Meanwhile, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency this week recalled a batch of GlaxoSmithKline's Hepatitis B vaccine because it was thought to be ineffective.
