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Novartis launches MS drug in Europe

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSZAT00811420090122

ZURICH, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has launched its multiple sclerosis drug Extavia in Europe and it will be initially available in Germany and Denmark, it said on Thursday.

Other European launches of the drug, which was approved last year for the treatment of early and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, will follow in 2009, Novartis said.

Multiple sclerosis affects more than an estimated 2.5 million patients worldwide and is one of the leading causes of neurological disability in young adults.

Extavia is the first in a new portfolio of medicines from Novartis that is planned to include both established treatments and innovative therapies for patients with MS, the group said.

It is Novartis' branded version of Bayer AG's (BAYG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Betaseron, interferon beta-1b, a first-line disease-modifying therapy injected every other day for the treatment of MS.

Novartis and Bayer settled a dispute over Betaseron in a deal that gave Bayer full control of the product while allowing Novartis to launch a version in 2009.