Bristol-Myers Squibb gets thumbs up for Orencia

Bristol-Myers Squibb gets thumbs up for Orencia

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Orencia (abatacept)

The treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was found to reduce the signs and symptoms of the disease, slowing the progression of structural damage and improving physical function in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA, who had an inadequate response to one or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.

Bristol-Myers Squibb chief executive officer Peter Dolan said: “Bristol-Myers Squibb is committed to discovering and developing innovative medications that address areas of significant unmet need.

“There is clearly a need for more therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, and Orencia has the potential to help many people with this serious disease. Orencia is our first internally-discovered biologic and it further diversifies our pharmaceutical portfolio.”

The drug will be in initially available for commercial use by the end of February, but to meet long-term demand an application to the FDA for a third-party manufacturing facility will be submitted.

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