Fast-tracking of Tysabri questioned

THE fast-tracking of Tysabri to help the one-million sufferers of multiple sclerosis in the US needs to be questioned, said a leading stockbroker last night.

Bloxham Stockbrokers analyst Peter Jackson noted also that Merck’s painkiller Vioxx had to be withdrawn suddenly from the market last year. Those two events coming so close together “ask a lot of questions of the FDA and its recent drug approval methods,” said Mr Jackson.

Vioxx had not been fast-tracked, but it had to have FDA approval before going to market, he said.