UCB voices delight at Neupro availability

UCB is delighted its drug can help Parkinson’s disease patients across the continent, it has asserted.

The European Commission has lifted restrictions on Neupro (rotigotine transdermal patch) and it can now be prescribed to all sufferers of the condition.

Because the product needs to be refrigerated from manufacturer to patient, there had been some limitations placed on the therapy since June 2008.

This was until a new distribution system was developed to ensure it is kept at the right temperature.

On May 29th 2009, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) recommended the restrictions were lifted.

Troy Cox, senior vice-president of CNS Operations at UCB, commented: “We are delighted that ? for the first time, people with RLS in Europe will also experience the advantages of this important treatment.”

Earlier this month, EMEA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use granted UCB’s Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) a positive recommendation for treating severe active rheumatoid arthritis.

It is designed to be used for adult patients who have experienced an inadequate response to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.