(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a first of its kind drug from Shire Plc <SHP.L> to treat patients aged 12 and older suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes swelling.
The drug, Takhzyro, is expected to bring in blockbuster sales for Shire, and is important to Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd <4502.T>, which plans to buy the Dublin-based rare disease specialist for $62 billion.
The monoclonal antibody, previously known by its chemical name lanadelumab, was approved https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm618261.htm?utm_campaign=FDA%20approves%20new%20treatment%20for%20hereditary%20angioedema%20%28HAE%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua to treat patients with types I and II hereditary angioedema (HAE), a disease that affects about 1 in 50,000.
There are only a handful of treatments available for HAE, including some from Shire. The disease affects people who have low levels of a certain protein and results in episodes of severe swelling in different areas such as the stomach, limbs, face and throat.
(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
