Health
MS drug OK'd for Crohn's disease
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 4, 2008
On Jan. 14, the Food and Drug Administration approved the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri, or natalizumab, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease in patients not responding to conventional therapies.
Patients on the drug must be enrolled in a special restricted distribution program called the Crohn's Disease-Tysabri Outreach Unified Commitment to Health, or CD TOUCH, Prescribing Program.
Tysabri was approved by the FDA in June 2006 to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. The drug carries a boxed warning for the viral infection progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/02/04/hlbf0204.htm.