Progenics, Wyeth get drug approval
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- April
- 25
Shares of Eastview-based Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. shot up again this morning after the company and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an application to market a drug for constipation in patients taking certain pain medications.
The shares were trading at $13.89, up $3.25, or 30.55 percent, at 9:51 a.m.
The companies announced the approval of Relistor last night. Earlier in the day, they announced that regulators in Europe had offered a positive opinion of the drug.
The shares rose 32.5 percent yesterday on news news of the favorable opinion in Europe.
“The approval of Relistor is a transformative event for Progenics Pharmaceuticals,” Dr. Paul J. Maddon, the company’s chief executive, said. “This is our first U.S. product approval.”
The company said more than 1.5 million Americans each year receive pain medication due to advanced illnesses such as cancer, end-stage heart and lung disease and AIDS. Many of these patients receive opiods for the pain and experts have found serious constipation strikes nearly all of them, the company said.
Wyeth, which has a campus in Pearl River, will make a $15 million payment to Progenics as a result of the approval. The companies have a 2005 agreement to develop and market the drug.
This entry was posted
on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 7:53 am by Allan Drury.
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