No­var­tis gets break­through des­ig­na­tion for Xo­lair suc­ces­sor, set­ting up spot­light for PhI­II read­out lat­er this year

With its Roche-part­nered Xo­lair no longer un­der patent pro­tec­tion, No­var­tis and CEO Vas Narasimhan are look­ing for the next drug up to step in­to the sales void. Now, Narasimhan’s tar­get­ed suc­ces­sor is get­ting some love from the FDA, and it could spell a fil­ing down the road.

The FDA grant­ed break­through ther­a­py des­ig­na­tion to the com­pa­ny’s lige­lizum­ab com­pound for the treat­ment of chron­ic spon­ta­neous ur­ticaria in pa­tients who re­spond poor­ly to an­ti­his­t­a­mines, No­var­tis said Thurs­day.

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