Sanofi's Lemtrada beats Rebif in head-to-head showdown

Sanofi's ($SNY) Genzyme group in Boston put up a new set of data to back its bid to make Lemtrada a leading therapy for multiple sclerosis. In a head-to-head study with Rebif (interferon beta-1a, which is featured in today's patent report), Lemtrada was better at reducing the annualized rate of relapses, according to the trial results published in The Lancet. Also, the "accumulation of disability" was slower in the Lemtrada arm while an improvement in disability scores "suggested" a reversal of disability in some patients. "Genzyme set a new standard by comparing Lemtrada exclusively to an approved treatment in all of our studies," says Genzyme CEO David Meeker, who will spearhead the commercialization campaign following a likely approval. "Publication of these findings by The Lancet highlights the importance of these results to the MS community." Lemtrada is the commercial name for alemtuzumab, which had also been approved for cancer until recently. Release