Massachusetts biotechs saw the U.S. approval of five drugs in the past year, including treatments for breast cancer, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. Combined, the drugs are expected to bring in more than $8 billion in 2018 - but not all of that money will come back to the Bay State.
By far the most widely watched local drug approval was at Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB), whose drug, Tecfidera, claimed the number two spot on the nationwide list of drugs expected to sell the most in five years (a common measure of newly-approved drugs, as it generally takes several years for drugs to reach their full market potential). In March, the Bay State’s largest locally-owned drug company saw the long-awaited approval of Tecfidera, its third drug to treat multiple sclerosis and its first to be administered as a pill. Bloomberg analysts predict the drug will generate annual revenue of $4.2 billion by 2018.
That will be beaten by Gilead’s oral drug for hepatitis C, Sovaldi, which was just approved earlier this month and is expected to hit $6 billion in sales by 2018. READ MORE
