One Way To Get Ahead: Biogen To Test Spinraza Given After Novartis’s Zolgensma

Biogen said some spinal muscular atrophy patients are currently being treated with Spinraza after receiving the Novartis gene therapy – its main competitor – so it will start a study of the risk/benefit in 2021.

paper plane on white background, Business competition concept. — Treating SMA patients post Zolgensma could give Spinraza sales a boost • Source: Shutterstock

Biogen, Inc. plans to initiate a Phase IV clinical trial by the first quarter of 2021 that will test the risk versus benefit of administering its spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) drug Spinraza (nusinersen) for two years to patients who already have been treated with a once-in-a-lifetime dose of Novartis AG’s gene therapy Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec).

Zolgensma is the biggest threat to Spinraza’s blockbuster commercial status, but both products may soon face competition from Roche...