Pluristem Therapeutics Inc (PSTI)

[FDApproved]

Novartis sticks its own breakthrough in acute radiation syndrome



Company: Novartis (NVS)

Therapy: Eltrombopag

Disease: Acute radiation syndrome

News: NVS announced in its earnings release that the FDA has granted its thrombopoietin analog eltrombopag Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome.

Looking forward: This builds on a body of evidence over the past decade that stimulation of bone marrow can help patients recover from the hematologic complications of radiation damage. Eltrombopag has the potential to recover lost platelets following radiation exposure, in particular. I imagine many are wondering what kind of impact this will have for companies like Pluristem (PSTI) that have cell therapies in development for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome. To that, I think it should be emphasized that eltrombopag is not likely to be a strong competitor, since there is a lot more that needs to be done to repair the damage done by radiation.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4188636-3-things-biotech-july-20-specter-haunts-small-biotech