All sources of information, even the co-founder of Tysabri, need to be questioned. I'm not saying that Biogen played fair (I don't know the details) but Lawrence Steinman runs his own pharmaceutical company, Bayhill Therapeutics, that is working on its own MS drug to be taken once a month. I believe Phase IIb trials are starting now. Competition? You betcha. It's a multi-billion dollar market out there and it seems that money will always drive the process to initiate new MS drugs. That's how the pharmaceutical industry works. And unfortunately, one of the by products of the free market is the unwanted or unexpected effects on the patients who take these drugs. The same thing goes on in the pharmaceutical market for anti-depressants.
By the way, just look at what Steinman's company says on its website regarding its drug, BHT-3009.
"BHT-3009 is an antigen-specific plasmid encoding myelin basic protein (MBP) that
has the potential to gain a significant share of the multi-billion dollar MS market as an effective treatment with limited side effects and a superior administration profile."
http://www.bayhilltherapeutics.com/BHT-3009.html
$$$$$ play a role in everything. And what might Steinman's company not be telling us during their process to gain a share of the market? I'm not a diehard pro-Tysabri advocate or defender necessarily. Just playing devil's advocate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Z
Now I ask the question....do you not think that Biogen's researchers were aware of this possible problem from the beginning? They knew what Tysabri's mechanism of action was and surely must have known of this possible danger. I believe that Dr. Lawrence Steinman, one of Tysabari's co-inventors, made several references to the long term use of the drug and this very type of danger. Biogen had an answer for him a few years ago...told him to stop "bad mouthing" the drug!
Harry
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