Roche poised for MS coup with PhIII success in progressive disease

Roche ($RHHBY) may be new to the multiple sclerosis scene, but it's looking to make quite the entrance. Its experimental therapy, ocrelizumab, recently posted positive Phase III data in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, a less common form of the disease--affecting about 10% to 20% of sufferers--that right now remains untreated. Thanks to that dearth of treatment options, the Swiss drugmaker should be able to "argue convincingly for a high price outside the U.S., resist payers in the U.S., and own the segment, without the competition that fragments" the $19 billion global market for relapsing remitting MS, Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson wrote in a Monday note to clients. More from FiercePharmaMarketing