Nurse Sarah Batchhelder listens to patients and their
families and offers them support. “MS Lifelines” is a
service that EMD Serono in the United States provides
free of charge to all patients.
Sales by this business unit were attributable to Rebif® (interferon beta-1a), the top-selling product of the Merck Serono division. Owing to its favorable benefit-risk profile and proven efficacy, in terms of sales Rebif® is the leading treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) outside the United States. Sales of Rebif® increased by 5.3% to €1,218 million in comparison with the 2006 figures of the former Serono Group. Negative currency effects dampened organic growth, which amounted to 9.6%. In the United States, where Rebif® has been approved since 2002, the drug continued to gain market share and generated more than one-third of its sales. In Europe, sales of Rebif® increased thanks to double-digit growth in Spain and the countries of central Europe as well as good performance in Germany.
New formulation of Rebif® now available
The Merck Serono division is investing steadily to further develop and improve its top-selling product Rebif®. In order to further enhance the therapeutic benefit, a new formulation of Rebif® was developed. The data show that the new formulation offers a new three-fold improvement in injection tolerability and reduced immunogenicity compared with historical data for the previous formulation of Rebif® as measured in the EVIDENCE study. At the end of August, the European Commission approved the new formulation of Rebif®. The approval applies to the member states of the European Union (EU), as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The product was approved in Canada in September 2007.