No­var­tis gets the green light to start mar­ket­ing its next prospec­tive block­buster. And they're charg­ing a pre­mi­um for con­ve­nience

A last-minute holdup at the FDA has been cleared up as reg­u­la­tors stamped their ap­proval on No­var­tis’ new mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis drug ofa­tu­mum­ab.

The FDA had de­layed the de­ci­sion a cou­ple of months ago — large­ly elim­i­nat­ing the ad­van­tage that No­var­tis had paid for with a pri­or­i­ty re­view vouch­er — rais­ing some ques­tions about what kind of last-minute hic­cups may have been in­volved. But the phar­ma gi­ant has avoid­ed the fate of Gilead and Bio­Marin, an­nounc­ing the ap­proval on Thurs­day and sound­ing the open­ing shot on what will be a block­buster chase for $1 bil­lion-plus in an­nu­al sales.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER