FDA approves Roche’s new spinal muscular atrophy fruit

Roche Holding AG ROG,
-0.27%
said Friday that the Food and Drug Administration had approved Evrysdi, a treatment for spinal muscle atrophy in adults and most children. It is the second drug approved by the regulator to treat the rare disease. The therapy was developed by PTC Therapeutics Inc. PTCT,
+ 1.72%
and will be sold by Genentech, a division of Roche. “We believe that Evrysdi, with its favorable clinical profile and oral administration, can provide significant benefits to many living with this rare neurological disease,” Roche’s Levi Garraway said in a news release. A spokeswoman said in an email that the treatment would cost about $ 340,000 a year, which is a lower price point than Biogen’s BIIB,
+ 10.10%
Spinraza and AveXis Inc.’s Zolgensma; the lower-than-expected price “could, however, increase market share and increase the rate of adoption, although will produce lower revenue per patient than we had estimated,” wrote Brian Abrahams of RBC Capital Markets in a note to investors. Since the beginning of the year, the share of PTC has fallen 0.4%, shares of Roche have risen 6.2%, and the S&P 500 SPX,
+ 0.06%
is up 3.7%.