FDA ap­proves No­var­tis drug for rare blood dis­or­der

The FDA has ap­proved No­var­tis’ pill ip­ta­co­pan for adults with parox­ys­mal noc­tur­nal he­mo­glo­bin­uria, or PNH, a rare dis­or­der where the red blood cells break up ear­ly.

The pill will be brand­ed as Fab­hal­ta, No­var­tis an­nounced Tues­day evening. Fab­hal­ta’s en­trance to the mar­ket will chal­lenge As­traZeneca’s drugs Soliris and Ul­tomiris, which have been back­bones of care for the dis­ease and brought in $5.73 bil­lion in sales last year.

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