Psoriasis, Raptiva and PML: Why Genentech pulled the drug
Friday, April 17, 2009 - 18:21
in Health & Medicine
Raptiva is withdrawn for its links to PML, but other therapies are available. On April 9, the biotech company Genentech announced that it was withdrawing its psoriasis medicine Raptiva from the market because it can cause a rare but often fatal brain infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. Four cases of the disease have been reported in patients taking Raptiva; all had been on the drug for at least three years.